A new coronavirus variant is raising concerns in France as regular PCR-tests are unable to detect the mutation, health officials stated during a press conference on Tuesday. On Monday, the French health authorities announced that a new coronavirus variant was detected in a hospital in the commune of Lannion in the Côtes d’Armor in France’s Brittany department, adding that PCR tests failed to detect the virus.
On Tuesday, Belgian virologist and interfederal Covid-19 spokesperson Steven Van Gucht clarified that it concerned “a small outbreak, of about 8 to 10 cases, who showed typical coronavirus symptoms, but the tests remained negative. So far, we have not established this variant on Belgian territory,” he said, repeating that – just like with the British and South-African variant – it is normal that new variants show up ‘as part of the virus’ natural evolution. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests are used to detect the presence of an antigen rather than the presence of the body’s immune response, or antibodies. Officials said researchers at the Institut Pasteur were investigating whether genetic modifications had resulted in the new variant being more difficult to detect. International health agencies have been alerted to the discovery of the new variant.
The formation of new variants is a natural process as viruses evolve over time in order to survive. At present, only three variants of the novel coronavirus are considered alarming: the so-called British, South African and Brazilian variants.
