The coronavirus is still evolving and a new strain was discovered in a clinic in Bavaria, a free state of Germany, where a massive number of 73 patients are already testing positive for the new mutation of COVID-19. It seems that the coronavirus pandemic would continue its plague to haunt the public with new mutations appearing one after the other.
Health workers dressed in personal protective equipment (PPE) handle a coronavirus test at a drive-thru testing station at Cummings Park on March 23, 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut. Availability of protective clothing for medical workers has become a major issue as COVID-19 cases surge throughout the United States. The Stamford site is run by Murphy Medical Associates.
An alarming situation flags on Germany's Bavarian region, where clinical trials of three patients tested positive for COVID-19, and it has been the suspected mutated strain that originated in the country. Initially, the mutation was only detected and suspected as COVID-19 but was later confirmed that it is indeed the new strain of the virus, local to the country.
Mutated strains and the evolution of the virus have fallen at the doorstep of 2021, with different countries reporting for each's a unique version of the notorious airborne killer, the COVID-19. The first discovery started with the United Kingdom's mutated strain called 'Kent' (B117), which was then followed by the one from Southern Africa, and another one is from Brazil.
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Bavaria-Germany's COVID-19 Mutated Strain
A model of COVID-19, known as coronavirus, is seen ahead of testimony from Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), during a US Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on the plan to research, manufacture and distribute a coronavirus vaccine, known as Operation Warp Speed, July 2, 2020 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
According to Explica. co, a German newspaper, Merkur, has first released and reported the new strain of the coronavirus that is not yet named or given the designation by its researchers and scientists. Berlin's Charite clinic analyzed the samples sent by Bavaria and has indeed detected a different mutation, altogether.
UK's Kent and South Africa's COVID strain is considered to be more infectious and dangerous than the original coronavirus which is known as the SARS-CoV-2 variant allegedly from Wuhan, China. Germany's unique strain has already 52 patients and 21 workers infected, bringing a total of 73 unique cases.
Bavarian clinic director Frank Niederbuhl noted that there are already 12,000 mutated strains of the coronavirus that have been registered globally and the state's discovery should not be a cause of panic. The director said that having a new variant immediately makes it contagious or as dangerous as the Kent and South African variant.
CDC's Registered Strains from UK, South Africa, and Brazil
Will the COVID-19 vaccine work on the recently discovered mutant strain?
While according to Niederbuhl, there are already 12,000 mutation strains of the coronavirus ever since the pandemic started, CDC only registers three of these strains as new viruses to watch out for this year. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the UK, South Africa, and Brazil variants are one of the top emerging strains that pose massive threats.
However, it is quite noting that CDC mentioned in their report that these new variants have no scientific evidence yet, as to whether they are more infectious or increases the risk of the virus compared to others. This is the reason why the Bavarian clinic director asks people not to panic despite the emergence of the new strain.
Moreover, research, studies, and findings are set to be unveiled by late January, highlighting the German strain's severity and status.
Related Article: More 'Super-Covid' Variants are Coming: Will the Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines Work Against Them?
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Written by Isaiah Alonzo
