Scientists in the US state of California reported the discovery of an unknown mutation of the coronavirus, writes The New York Times.
Experts have discovered a new strain of COVID-19 while searching for samples of the British variant of the coronavirus. As a result, a California variant of the infection was found.
As scientists assume, the CAL.20C mutation appeared in the state itself back in July last year, but until November it did not manifest itself in any way. Then the strain began to spread seriously and was found in more than half of the samples taken on January 13 at the laboratory in Los Angeles.
At the moment, there is no evidence that the mutation is more deadly compared to other variants of the coronavirus. It has also not been reported on how contagious the CAL.20C mutation is.
On January 18, it became known that a previously unknown mutation of the coronavirus was discovered in the south of Germany, due to which there was an outbreak in a local hospital. The incident took place in the city of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, located in Bavaria. At the moment, a new variation of the virus has been detected in 52 patients and 21 employees of the clinic. The Berlin clinic “Charite” confirmed that this is a completely new mutation, but do not know if it will be more infectious.