Category: Testing
NEJM: In two coronavirus vaccine breakthrough cases “examination of the SARS-CoV-2 sequences revealed that both patients were infected with variant viruses” .. “neither sequence precisely fit any known clade”
Examination of the SARS-CoV-2 sequences revealed that both patients were infected with variant viruses. More...
India: Doctors discuss the diagnosis and treatment of B.1.617 double mutant coronavirus patients
“Death of fully vaccinated people”, “Increased incidence of reinfections”, “Very infectious. More...
Brazil: First confirmed death from coronavirus REINFECTION reported
A 39-year-old Brazilian man who died of COVID-19 last month was suffering from a second bout of the illness, researchers said on Tuesday, making it the country’s first confirmed death from coronavirus reinfection. More...
Bioaerosols generated in public toilets may pose a concern for the transmission of coronavirus COVID-19
To quantify the extent of aerosolization, we measure the size and number of droplets generated by flushing toilets and urinals in a public restroom. More...
SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spike protein gene variants with N501T and G142D mutation dominated infections in US minks
We analyzed all animal-derived (977), all Canadian (19,529) and US (173,277) SARS-CoV-2 sequences deposited in GISAID from December 2019 to March 12, 2021, and identified 2 dominant novel variants, the N501T-G142D variant and N501T-G142D-F486L variant, in the US mink-derived SARS-CoV-2 sequences. More...
Hong Kong: 51 coronavirus infections on single flight from India
A genetic study of viral samples from infected passengers on a flight into Hong Kong later found to have a record number of Covid-19 cases will be undertaken to determine whether in-flight transmission or quarantine facilities were to blame, with implications on tighter protocols required to contain such spikes. More...
Hong Kong: coronavirus transmission linked to quarantine hotel door hooks used for meal deliveries
Hong Kong’s first community infection of a mutant Covid-19 strain involved the South African variant, officials revealed on Tuesday, with transmission likely to have taken place at a quarantine hotel via door hooks used by staff to deliver meal boxes to guests. More...
India: B.1.617 now at 61% of coronavirus genome samples in Maharashtra – was ~20% just one month ago
The National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, has shared data with laboratories in Maharashtra showing that of 361 Covid-19 samples taken in Maharashtra from January to March and genome sequenced, 61% or 220 had the double mutation E484Q and L452R, now classified as B.1.617 lineage. More...
India: New coronavirus variant B.1.618 with added E484K
E484K has been found in a new Sars-Cov-2 variant labelled as B.1.618, which has been reported in West Bengal, India. More...
New Zealand: fully vaccinated airport worker tests positive for coronavirus
The Auckland Airport worker who has tested positive for Covid-19 cleans planes from high risk Covid-19 ‘red-zone countries’, and had been fully vaccinated, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says. More...