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No data on coronavirus strain so far in those arriving from South Africa - health minister

The strain is being identified

MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. It is not yet clear which SARS-CoV-2 variant was imported to Russia from South Africa when several people tested positive upon arriving from that country, Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Sunday.

"So far, we have no data [on the coronavirus strain]. The identification process is underway," he said.

Russia’s sanitary watchdog said earlier that nine people who had returned from South Africa tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection. The strain is being identified.

On November 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated B.1.1.529 as a "Variant of Concern" and assigned it the Greek letter Omicron. It also said that the new variant has "a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning."

According to experts, several mutations in the virus’ S-protein are potentially capable of hampering the neutralization of the pathogen by antibodies and hence reduce the efficacy of the current vaccines. The new variant potentially may also be more transmittable than other variants.