Malaysia detects new Coronavirus strain ’D614G’ deemed ’ten times’ deadlier

mangaloretoday.com/yahoo

Malaysia, aug 17, 2020: A new strain of the novel coronavirus called ’D614G’, deemed ten times more infectious, has been detected in Malaysia, said Director General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah in a Facebook post on Saturday.

The mutation has been spotted in three cases from a cluster which started when a restaurant owner and permanent resident returned to the country from India. It has also been detected in another cluster case which started which started with returnees from the Philippines.

Abdullah said that the strain could mean that existing studies on vaccines might be incomplete or ineffective against the mutation.

"So far these two clusters are controlled due to the fast-paced public health control actions on the field. This test is an early test and there are several follow-up tests in progress to test several other cases. These include index cases for both these clusters," Abdullah said.

Abdullah said that this meant people needed to be more aware and careful in the country. The mutation infects other individuals 10 times more and spreads more easily by an individual ’super spreader’, he said.

He said that Malaysia’s main action was to secure public health, and asked people to practice Covid-19 norms strictly, such as practicing good self-hygiene and wearing protective clothes in public places.

This mutation has now become the predominant variant in Europe and US. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that there there is no evidence that the strain leads to a more severe disease. According to a paper in ’Cell Press’ the mutation may not have a major impact on the efficacy of vaccines which are presently being developed.