France has discovered a new variant of COVID-19 that appears to be able to evade detection by standard tests for the virus.
The French Ministry of Health said on Monday evening that a group of cases of the new variant were detected at a hospital in Lannion, in the region of Brittany, France24 reported.
Several of the patients tested negative for PRC tests, health officials said.
Researchers at the Institut Pasteur are investigating whether the variant has genetic modifications that make it more difficult to detect, the vehicle said.
Although potentially more difficult to track, the variant does not appear to be more serious or transmissible than others, officials said.
The French government resisted pressure to order a new blockade amid the latest outbreak of coronavirus, which saw an average of more than 20,000 new cases per day, the media reported.
“The situation is not improving, there is an increasing number of infections and hospitals are very overburdened with many patients, whose average age is decreasing and who do not always have comorbidities,” said Prime Minister Jean Castex, informed France24.