The Covid-19 patients at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City have been infected by a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, the A.23.1, which was recorded for the first time in Southeast Asia.
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A report by the Hospital of Tropical Diseases released on February 12 on genetic analysis of the virus said that samples taken from two out of four patients who were confirmed on February 8 at the airport showed that they carried the A.23.1 variant.
The variant was first reported in the African country of Rwanda in late October last year.
Doctors said it is highly likely that the patients at Tan Son Nhat Airport caught the virus from one source.
"The SARS-CoV-2 variant found in the patients at Tan Son Nhat International Airport is not the B.1.1.7 variant with high infection speed which has been found in the recent outbreaks in Hai Duong and Quang Ninh," the report said. "It is not the one detected in South Africa, either."
Besides Rwanda, the A.23.1 variant has been reported in some other countries, including the US, the UAE, Australia, the UK and Denmark. However, no abnormal developments have been reported.