Vitenamese health minister Nguyen Thanh Long said that the new hybrid variant of the coronavirus was more transmissible than previously known versions, especially in the air, reported BBC. Vietnam had earlier discovered a new coronavirus variant that was a hybrid of strains first found in India and the UK.
Long said the new variant had spread to 30 of Vietnam's 63 municipalities and provinces, and could be responsible for a recent surge in confirmed cases. The World Health Organisation had listed four global variants of concern the ones found in the UK and India, plus two more identified in South Africa and Brazil.
Vietnam initially stood out in its success battling the virus. As of early May, it had recorded just over 3,100 confirmed cases and 35 deaths since the start of the pandemic. But in the last few weeks, the country has confirmed more than 3,500 new cases and 12 more deaths.