A new variant of coronavirus AY.4.2 was discovered in Moscow

this today A new variant of the coronavirus AY.4.2 has been discovered in Moscow, Rospotrebnadzor officially announced . At the same time, there is no evidence yet that the new strain is more deadly.

Kamil Khafizov, head of the scientific group for the development of new methods for diagnosing human diseases, said that “isolated cases” of a new subtype of coronavirus AY.4.2 were found among samples from the Moscow region. The new type is one offshoot of the COVID-19 delta strain.

As Bloomberg reported , a new variant of the coronavirus began to spread in the UK around July - now AY.4.2 accounts for about 8% of all coronavirus cases in the country. It is believed that the new type of virus is only 10% more infectious than the classic delta variant. For comparison, when the delta variant appeared, it had a 50-60% advantage in spreading speed compared to other strains of COVID-19.

There is also no data yet to suggest that the new coronavirus mutation is more dangerous and more resistant to existing vaccines.

According to the director of the Institute of Genetics at University College London, Professor François Balloux, at this stage, there is “no need to panic” about the spread of a new type of coronavirus. "This (new variant of AY.4.2. - The Bell) may be a little more contagious, but it's not something completely catastrophic, as we've seen before," the BBC scientist told the BBC.