Health officials in Vietnam have detected a new variant of the coronavirus that's highly contagious.
The Vietnamese Health Ministry announced on Saturday that scientists have determined the new variant has traces of strains from both the United Kingdom and India.
Because the virus has mutations of strains from both countries, it is particularly susceptible to transmission. Officials believe the UK variant is more easily transmissible than other strains. The variant, B.1.1.7, is between 30% to 50% more effective at spreading from person to person than other coronavirus variants, according to UK scientists.
The Indian variant, on the other hand, might make the virus more infectious or may help it avoid the antibody response.
This means variants can spread more easily, make people sicker, escape immune responses, evade tests, or render treatments ineffective, according to experts.
The new variant is able to be transmitted quickly through the air.
