Category: Testing
France: Breton coronavirus variant B.1.616 – 42 cases in total, 18 deaths
The VOI 20C / H655Y (lineage B.1.616) initially detected in Lannion, in Brittany, was classified as variant to follow on 03/14/2021. More...
Canada CDC: ‘Researchers are monitoring for … B.1.617.4’
British Columbia CDC: “Researchers are monitoring for specific sublineages of this variant, including B.1.617.1, 1.617.2, B.1.617.3 and B.1.617.4” (is this a typo?) More...
India: Covaxin and Covishield vaccines invoke 50% fewer antibodies against B.1.617 coronavirus variant
Scientists at the Indian National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, have found that both Covaxin and Covishield produce half as many antibodies against the B.1.617 variant of the novel coronavirus as against the ‘original’ B.1 variant. More...
Europe: B.1.620 coronavirus variant – definitely one to watch
“Last month, Gytis Dudas was tracking a concerning new coronavirus variant that had triggered an outbreak of COVID-19 in his native Lithuania and appeared sporadically elsewhere in Europe and in the United States. More...
UK: 487 reinfections for UK coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 and 13 reinfections already for B.1.617.2
The latest UK PHE technical report shows that there have been 487 cases of reinfection recorded for the UK variant B.1.1.7. More...
UK: Chris Whitty – B.1.617.2 is more transmissible than B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant
Chris Whitty: at 11.15 minutes, “..there is now confidence, and SAGE has looked at this data, as have various modelling groups, that this variant (B.1.617.2) is more transmissible than B.1.1.7.” More...
India: Pangolin rescued from coronavirus-positive man tests positive for Covid-19
A pangolin that was recovered from a COVID-positive man has tested positive for the virus, following which it would be kept in isolation. More...
India: Jaipur Zoo lion tests positive for coronavirus. A white tiger, a panther, and another lion also suspected to be infected
An Asiatic lion has tested positive for Covid in Jaipur’s Nahargarh Biological Park. More...
Cameroon: travel-driven emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.620 with multiple VOC-like mutations and deletions in Europe
“In this study we have presented evidence that a SARS-CoV-2 lineage designated B.1.620, first detected in Europe in late February, is associated with Central Africa, where it appears to circulate at very high prevalence, and has been introduced into Europe and the US on multiple occasions. More...
WHO: Newly designated VOC within lineage B.1.617 – update on Delta coronavirus variant
In consultation with the WHO SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution Working Group, WHO has determined that viruses within the lineage B.1.617 have been characterized as a VOC. More...