A new strain of coronavirus capable of “cheating” tests was found in northwestern France. This is reported by the newspaper Le Parisien with reference to the country’s Ministry of Health.
A new mutation of the coronavirus was found in eight people in the Brittany region. The new strain is no longer contagious and does not lead to more severe disease, authorities said.
The peculiarity of this type of virus is presumably that it is more difficult to detect using conventional PCR tests. In particular, individuals infected with this strain showed symptoms of the disease, but nasopharyngeal swabs were negative. Blood tests and PCR tests on samples from the lower respiratory tract may be needed to diagnose infection with this type of virus.
On March 16, it became known that two cases of infection with the South African variant of the coronavirus, which is considered more infectious, were first detected in Russia. The AstraZeneca vaccine proved to be ineffective against this strain.