Brazil has recorded a new type of Coronavirus | …

Manaus variable, The central protagonist of Brazil’s health breakdown since FebruaryHe had a mutation and generated a new type of coronavirus, according to Rio de Janeiro’s state health minister Friday, While the country has exceeded the 15 million infections accumulated since the beginning of the epidemic.

The P.1.2 variant was named because it was a P1 mutation, which appeared in Manaus, the capital of the Amazonas state, last November. The variant is found in Rio de Janeiro, the second state with the largest number of deaths in the country after Sao Paulo.

“So far, it cannot be said that this variant is more contagious or fatal, which is a mutation of P1,” said Claudia Melo, Undersecretary for Health Surveillance at the Rio State Health Secretariat.

The new variable P.1.2 was identified in 5.85 percent of 376 samples taken in 57 municipalities in Rio, including the state capital. The study is part of a coronavirus sequencing plan funded by all public and university laboratories in Rio.

Rio Health Minister Alexander Chip said the study helps verify the occurrence of new strains and anticipate possible epidemiological scenarios. Brazil reached on Thursday with 76,380 new positive points, The number of cases has reached 15,003,563 since March of last year, with a recovery of 13,591,335, according to official figures. Coronavirus deaths also accumulate 416,949.