New coronavirus strain detected in Philippines

Last updated on May 18th, 2021 at 05:24 am

METRO MANILA – A new mutated strain of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the Covid-19 disease has been detected and belived to be more infectious than the original variant, says Philippine Genome Center (PGC).

According to the research center, the G614 strain, along with D614 genotype was reportedly detected on several sample positive cases in Quezon City.

Philippine Genome Center said that eventhough the information confirmed the presence of G614 in the country, it may not represent the mutational landscape of the entire country.

The study revealed that the changes in mutation amino acid at position 614, from D (aspartic acid) to G (glycine) which results to D614G. The initial D614 is now the G614 variant.

Scientific Journal Cell published a study that patient infected with G614 variant has high resistance that those who were infected with D614. However, there’s still no definitive evidence showing that G614 variant are more transmissible with D61. The research facility continues to monitor the situation of the mutation to be able to have a better understanding of the evolutionary trajectory of SARS-CoV-2 and how to defeat it.