MOSCOW, Nov. 26 — A new and presumably more infectious Covid-19 mutant variant, first detected in South Africa, was diagnosed among two travellers in Hong Kong`s Regal Airport Hotel, reported Sputnik.
Hong Kong`s Centre for Health Protection said further genetic analysis detected a new Covid-19 mutant variant B.1.1.529 on the two patients, Hong Kong newspaper the Standard reported yesterday. The centre said that the sequences were similar to those found in South Africa and Botswana, and suggested that the index case was the 36-year-old man who had arrived in Hong Kong from South Africa.
The centre also reported six imported cases, including a one-year-old baby girl, two men and three women aged 17 to 45, according to the Standard. The five patients apart from the baby girl had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before.
In early November, health authorities have reported Hong Kong`s first Covid-19 infection involving the delta plus strain known as AY.4.2, which experts warned might be more contagious than the original variant. — Bernama
