Australia's Victoria state detects B16172 COVID-19 variant in latest outbreak

SYDNEY: Australia's Victoria state authorities said on Friday (Jun 4) genomic sequencing has detected for the first time the Delta COVID-19, or B16172, variant among infections in the latest virus outbreak in the state capital, Melbourne.

"That variant is the Delta variant, it is now infamous in India and increasingly found in the United Kingdom. It is a variant of significant concern," Victoria state Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters in Melbourne.

The B16172 variant of the coronavirus was first detected in India. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Monday that coronavirus variants were assigned letters of the Greek alphabet in a bid to simplify discussion and avoid stigmatising countries where the variants were detected. 

READ: Is it all Greek to you? COVID-19 variants get new names​​​​​​​

Sutton said the new variant had not been linked to any sequenced COVID-19 infections across Australia from hotel quarantine or elsewhere.

So far, two Victoria cases have the Delta variant of concern, which is likely the strain that caused the latest devastating wave of COVID-19 in India.

"It is a concern that it is not linked to other cases but we are chasing down all those primary-case contacts ... and looking into where it might have been acquired," Sutton said.

Victoria, Australia's second-most populous state, is battling to contain its latest outbreak - 65 cases since May 24 - after more than three months of no cases, placing tough restrictions on the movement of people and shutting down large parts of its economy. The government has linked all the cases to a single traveller released from quarantine after testing negative.

Melbourne is into a second week of hard lockdown after it was extended for another week until Jun 10, but some curbs elsewhere were eased in the state from Thursday night.

Authorities blamed the extension of tough curbs in Melbourne on the Kappa variant, which they described as a highly infectious strain, although new cases have remained in single digits for eight days in a row. The Kappa variant, or B16171, is another variant of the coronavirus that was detected in India. 

Four new locally acquired cases were reported on Friday, versus three a day earlier.

Commentary: New names for coronavirus variants will end stigma for countries

Snap lockdowns, regional border restrictions and strict social distancing rules have largely helped Australia rein in prior outbreaks and keep its COVID-19 numbers relatively low at just more than 30,100 cases and 910 deaths.

More than 4.6 million vaccine doses have been administered as of Wednesday in Australia, which has an adult population of about 20 million.

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