Category: Testing
France: 18 new infections reported of the 19B/501Y Henri Mondor coronavirus variant
The 19B / 501Y Henri Mondor variant (lineage A.27) has been detected in France since January 2021 infrequently but overall stable, with fluctuations from one week to the next: it represented 1% of sequences interpretable in the Flash # 6 survey (03/30/2021) versus 0.2% in the Flash # 5 survey (03/16/2021). More...
France: Breton variant B.1.616 – 37 cases & 16 deaths with just 9% of cases detected by first RT-PCR coronavirus test
As of 04/21, 37 confirmed cases of infection with the 20C / 655Y [B.1.616] variant have been reported in France, including 34 in Brittany and 3 in other regions in people linked to the area of circulation of the virus in Brittany (made up of several urban communities around Lannion, Guingamp, Saint-Brieuc, Paimpol). More...
Sri Lanka: New and more potent strain of coronavirus detected in Sri Lanka – “The variant can stay airborne for almost an hour and is spreading quick”
A brand new coronavirus variant that’s airborne and stronger than all those discovered beforehand in Sri Lanka has been found within the island nation, an immunologist has said in Colombo. More...
Tunisia: six people infected by an unidentified sars-cov-2 novel coronavirus strain in Manouba
In Manouba, Tunisia, six contaminations by an unidentified strain were detected on April 20, announces the regional health directorate. More...
UK SAGE: Lab studies suggest that the N501Y spike protein mutation increases binding to rat and mouse ACE2 leading to viral replication
A report issued by the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) found the likelihood that a variant of concern (VOC) that has arisen in humans could infect a rodent and then spread among the animals is high. More...
CDC: 7,157 coronavirus vaccine breakthrough cases with 88 deaths reported in the US
The US CDC has reported 7,157 vaccine breakthrough cases for Covid-19 vaccines as of 20th April 2021. More...
USA: 819 coronavirus vaccine breakthrough cases recorded by Colorado State epidemiologist
State epidemiologist says the state recorded 819 breakthrough cases out of 106,965 total cases from the end of January through April 19. More...
Australia: Victoria shuts border to Perth, hundreds in coronavirus isolation
Victoria, Australia has closed its border to Perth residents after a passenger infected with coronavirus landed at Melbourne Airport.
India: Over 50% of coronavirus genome samples in some Maharahstra cities are “double mutant” B.1.617
Sujeet Singh, director of the Indian National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said that in Maharashtra, the B.1.617 variant was found in proportions of over 50% in many cities. More...
UK coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 may not have evolved spontaneously in the UK or within human populations
“Here we analyzed 454,443 SARS-CoV-2 spike genes/proteins and 14,427 whole-genome sequences. More...