24. 12. 2020. 00:00   >>  16:30 0

COVID-19

A third strain found in Nigeria, the world in trouble?

Another new variant of the coronavirus seems to have appeared in Nigeria, the head of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention John Nkengasong said today.

He added that it is therefore necessary to conduct further investigation.

It is a different variant compared to those in Great Britain and South Africa, Nkengasong told reporters, the AP reported.

He pointed out that the Nigerian Center for Disease Control and the African Center of Excellence for the Genomics of Infectious Diseases in that country would analyze a certain number of samples. "Give us some time ... It's still very early," Nkengasong said.

The warning about the existence of an alleged new variant of the coronavirus is based on two or three genetic sequences, he said.

The African continent now has more than 2.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, or 3.3 percent of global cases.

Infections across the continent have risen 10.9 percent over the past four weeks, Nkengasong said, including growth of 52 percent in Nigeria and 40 percent in South Africa.