10 times more infectious Coronavirus strain detected

Bhubaneswar:  At a time when several countries are battling with COVID-19, Malaysia, which has so far reported over 9,000 positive cases , has detected a strain of the novel coronavirus that has been found to be 10 times more infectious.

The mutation called D614G was found in at least three of the 45 cases in a cluster that started from a restaurant owner returning from India and breaching his 14-day home quarantine. However, the man has been fined and sentenced to five months of imprisonment.

The strain was also found in another cluster involving people returning from the Philippines,reads a report published in Bloomberg.

The strain could mean that existing studies on vaccines may be incomplete or ineffective against the mutation, said Malaysia Director General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah.

The mutation has become the predominant variant in Europe and the US with the World Health Organization (WHO) saying there is no evidence the strain leads to a more severe disease. A paper published in Cell Press said the mutation is unlikely to have a major impact on the efficacy of vaccines currently being developed.

“People need to be wary and take greater precautions because this strain has now been found in Malaysia,” Noor Hisham wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday. “The people’s cooperation is very needed so that we can together break the chain of infection from any mutation.”