What is the C.1.2 coronavirus variant -- and should we be worried?
Researchers are tracking a new coronavirus variant that was recently identified in South Africa and appears to have a startling number of mutations with the potential to give it an evolutionary advantage over other viral strains.
The C.1.2 variant was detected in May of this year and formally identified in July. It evolved from C.1, a version of the virus that dominated South Africa’s first wave of infections.
In May, C.1.2 accounted for 0.2% of 1,054 genomes sequenced by a team based in South Africa as part of a surveillance program, according to a preliminary report posted on MedRxiv. In June, that share was up to 1.6% of 2,177 samples, and by July, it had climbed to 2% of 1,326 samples.
That pattern is “similar to the increases seen in Beta and Delta in South Africa during early detection,” the study authors wrote, referring to coronavirus variants first identified in South Africa and India, respectively.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/c-1-2-coronavirus-variant-204839864.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
