SARS-CoV-2 Mu variant

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) has published the first clinical report on hospitalized patients since the advent of the Omicron variant.

South African scientists have identified a new variant of the virus that causes COVID-19, and the World Health Organization gave it the spy fantastic name "omicron" within days, due to a series of mutations in its protein spikes, nanomechanical tentacles that connect and break into cells, scientific alarms have begun to sound off, writes Wired.

The European Medicines Agency said Thursday a coronavirus variant known as "Mu" could be cause for concern, although there is no data yet to show it will overtake the dominant Delta strain, AFP reported. Mu, which was first identified in Colombia in January and is known scientifically as B.1.621, was classified earlier this month as a "variant of interest" by the WHO.