Scientists fear that a new COVID-19 variant in Finland – unlike the UK and South African strains – could fuel the spread of the disease by not showing up according to tests.
According to the Evening Standard, the Vita Laboratories in Helsinki, which made the discovery, said it was unlikely that the variant originated in Finland, given the low infection rate of the Scandinavian country.
“Vita Laboratoriot Oy and the Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Helsinki have detected a previously unknown variant of the coronavirus in a sample from southern Finland,” the laboratory said of the variant, called “Fin-796H.”
‘Mutations in this variant make it difficult to detect in at least one of the WHO-recommended PCR tests. This discovery could have a significant impact on determining the spread of the disease, ”he added.
Ilkka Julkunen, a professor of virology at the University of Turku, told the local newspaper Yle that the emergence of the variant is not yet a major problem.
“I would not be very worried yet because we do not have clear information that this new strain can be transmitted more easily, or that it will affect immune protection by having the virus already or having received a vaccination,” he said. said. according to the Standard.
Referring to the South African and UK tribes, the laboratory said that Fin-796H’s’ heritage has the same characteristics as the previously widespread variants in the world, but does not appear to belong to the lineage of any of the previously known variants. not, “the Sun reported.
It is unclear how effective vaccines will be against the new variant.
Finland has recorded 51,595 cases and 723 deaths since the pandemic began.