CNN recently reported about a new strain of coronavirus that has been spreading faster, and Filipino researchers have recently reported that the new strain has been detected here in the Philippines. According to the researchers at the Philippine Genome Center, a small sample of cases in Quezon City have tested positive for the strain.
Called G614, the new strain is considered to be a new mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and is also the most dominant strain of coronavirus circulating around the world. The mutation affects the structure that the virus uses to get in the cells that it infects.
In July, international researchers showed clear evidence that this new strain is more infectious and spreads more easily as it multiplies faster in the throat, nose, and sinuses. Those infected by this new strain don’t seem to be more severely affected, though.
On August 13, the Philippine Genome Center released a bulletin that stated that “Although this information confirms the presence of G614 in the Philippines, we note that all the samples tested were from Quezon City and may not represent the mutational landscape for the whole country.”
The Department of Health has since allowed the Philippine Genome Center to cover a wider area for their studies.
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