French health studies new variant of coronavirus detected in the northern region of the country

A new variant of the coronavirus was detected in the French region of Brittany and began to be studied to find out its degree of transmission and whether it could cause harsher effects on those affected.

The General Directorate of Health indicated that the new strain was sequenced from an outbreak that appeared in the Lannion hospital, in the northwest of the country, with 79 cases, of which 8 had this new variant.

For now, the authorities have decided to place it “under surveillance”, after several patients with COVID-19 symptoms tested negative in the PCR tests carried out.

The analyzes carried out on this new variant "do not allow us to conclude either a severity or a higher contagiousness" with respect to the traditional strain, although "in-depth investigations" are being carried out to understand it better.

We will also seek to determine if current vaccines are effective with this new strain.

All detection centers in France have been informed so that their analyzes also take this new variant into account.