Top doctors say Thong Lor cluster might be the UK Covid-19 variant

The UK variant of Covid-19 might be the strain of the virus that broke out at nightclubs and bars in Bangkok’s Thong Lor area, according to 2 top doctors in Thailand. The B117 variant is said to be faster-spreading – about 1.7 times more contagious than the original strain.

Doctors suspect the mutated strain led to the outbreak at the nightlife venues, but more tests need to be done to confirm. Thailand’s top virologist Yong Poovorawan, from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Medicine, says preliminary genetic testing appeared to show that the strain was the UK variant.

In preliminary tests, samples from the Thong Lor were compared to strains from the market clusters in the Bang Khae area. A top researcher in virology and biotech, Anan Chongkaewwatana, says that the data also supports the theory that the B117 strain spread in Thong Lor.

SOURCE: Pattaya News