New highly transmissible Covid variant found in France: reports.

A new, highly transmissible variant of COVID-19 has been identified in France, a leading news website has reported.<br><br>In a newsflash on Tuesday afternoon, Le Monde said the new variant had been detected in eastern France.<br><br>It also said the country’s health authorities had ordered that all passengers arriving from China by air be tested for COVID-19.<br><br>The paper added that the move was aimed at “avoiding any possible outbreak of the virus” caused by the new variant.<br><br>Earlier today, Sky News reported that the new variant has been identified in separate patients in a Campanian hospital.<br><br>The news channel said that the scientist who carried out the tests believes the new variant is a hybrid of Omicron and Delta - the latter of which is known to be more serious.<br><br>Professor Francesco Neeretti, who runs the University Hospital of Salerno’s microbiology and virology division, told Sky News that the new variant is “similar to the one found in France and is about 10% different from the one that causes COVID-19”.<br><br>He added: “This could be the cause of infections which have a more serious clinical outcome of the typical Omicron form.”<br><br>However, Prof Neeretti stressed that more testing was needed to establish if the new variant really is more contagious and severe than Omicron.<br><br>He added: “It is necessary to remember that we still need a more in-depth analysis to say that the two cases we have found are the cause of severe forms of the disease.”