There’s a newer strain of the coronavirus – it’s called D614G. It is currently making its way across Southeast Asia, and the concern among Malaysian health officials is that it may be even more infectious than COVID-19.
KXAN Austin reported that “the tribe has been seen in several countries across the continent and was originally found in a Malaysian cluster of 45 cases,” quoted Bloomberg Quint, who follows international news from India.
According to KXAN, health officials say “those 45 cases of D614G started after someone returned from India before completing his 14-day quarantine. Then the strain was discovered from various samples of COVID-19 in the Philippines. ”
Filipino health secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Monday that the mutation is said to have a “higher possibility of transmission or infection, but we do not yet have enough solid evidence to say that will happen,” KXAN quoted him as saying.
There is a lack of evidence.
According to the report, which health officials claim is lacking in evidence, with Benjamin Cowling, head of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong, stating that ‘it may just have a competitive advantage over other strains of COVID-19. ”
The strain “may be a little more contagious,” Cowling told Bloomberg Quint. “We do not yet have enough evidence to evaluate that, but there is no evidence that it is any more contagious,” KXAN was quoted as saying.
The report said that at present D614G is being studied in the Philippines, where the outbreak of COVID-19 is the highest in the region. According to the report, the World Health Organization says the mutation is the predominant strain in Europe and the US
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s infectious disease expert, said back in July that a new mutation in COVID-19 could more easily replicate the coronavirus.
Fauci said, “It seems that a particular mutation may make the virus more transmissible,” the report said.
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