WHO Studying New Coronavirus Variant
The World Health Organization’s technical working group is meeting Friday to assess a new coronavirus variant detected in South Africa and may decide whether to give it a name from the Greek alphabet. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO's COVID-19 technical lead, told a social media panel on Thursday that work was being carried out by researchers to determine the variant's mutations and their potential impact on vaccines and therapeutics. Scientists say the new variant is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, South Africa's most populous province. Van Kerkhove said there are fewer than 100 full genome sequences of the new mutation that are available. "We don't know very much about this yet. What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations, and the concern is that when you have so many mutations, it can have an impact on how the virus behaves," she told the panel. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: / bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: / bloombergquicktakenews Twitter: / quicktake Facebook: / quicktake Instagram: / quicktake
