France has discovered a new COVID-19 variant that appears to be able to escape detection by standard virus testing.
The French Ministry of Health said on Monday evening that a cluster of cases of the new variant had been detected at a hospital in Lannion, in the Brittany region, France24 reported.
Several of the patients tested negative for PRC, health officials said.
Researchers at the Institut Pasteur are studying whether the variant has genetic modifications that make it more difficult to detect, the media reported.
While potentially more difficult to track, the variant does not appear to be more serious or transmissible than others, officials said.
The French government has resisted pressure to order a new closure amid the latest coronavirus surge that has averaged more than 20,000 new cases a day, the media reported.
“The situation is not improving, there are an increasing number of infections and hospitals are heavily loaded with many patients, whose average age is declining and they do not always have comorbidities,” said Prime Minister Jean Castex. as reported by France24.