They identify a new strain of coronavirus in Brazil

Sao Paulo – A group of researchers identified a new strain of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, causing COVID-19, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, one of the regions most affected by the pandemic in Brazil, scientific sources reported on Tuesday.

According to a study by the National Laboratory of Scientific Computing (LNCC), linked to the Ministry of Science and Technology and carried out in conjunction with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the new variant was first detected last October in the city of Rio de Janeiro, capital of the homonymous state.

The researchers stressed that, for now, the new variant is “partially restricted” to the city, which concentrates the highest number of cases and deaths from COVID-19 in the region, but warned of a possible spread throughout the state and, consequently, other areas of South American country.

“The significant increase in the frequency of this lineage raises concerns about public health management and the need for genomic surveillance during the second wave of infections,” the scientists said in the study, conducted under the coordination of the researcher Ana Tereza Vasconcelos.

The new strain was discovered through genetic sequencing of the B.1.1.28 lineage, which has been circulating in Brazil since the beginning of the year, and the variant is estimated to have emerged in July.

The researchers analyzed 180 genomes from SARS-CoV-2 and found five “unique mutations,” which “have emerged and rapidly spread.”

The study, however, does not indicate whether the newly identified strain is more transmissible or more aggressive than those known in Brazil.

Scientists have also noted that there are also no “indications” that the variant may reduce the effectiveness of vaccines against the virus that are just beginning to be distributed worldwide.

The state of Rio de Janeiro, after Sao Paulo, is the second region of Brazil with the highest absolute number of deaths due to the disease, with almost 25,000 deaths, and the sixth with the most confirmed cases (407,575).

Across the country, which has a population of about 210 million, the coronavirus leaves more than 187,000 dead and 7.2 million infected.

In recent weeks, Brazil has experienced a new resurgence of the pathogen, which has forced several states and municipalities to tighten restrictive measures in the run-up to the New Year holidays, which have even become canceled in several locations.