The Eureka Medical Laboratories says that it is capable of testing for and detecting new strains of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) which have been seen in different parts of the world.
In a press release yesterday, the laboratory said some of the variants include one which was first identified in the United Kingdom which is knows as SARS-CoV2 VUI 202012/01. According to the press release this was identified through viral genomic sequencing and is identified by multiple spike protein mutations.
The other variant is one which was first discovered in South Africa and known as SARS-CoV-2 (501Y.V2 or B.1.351). This it says is identified by multiple non-synonymous mutations in the spike protein. A third variant is known as S:P681H and is a related and similar but derived variant. This variant was identified by the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Nigeria. The lab said that it is committed to meeting the diagnostic challenges that identifying the variants may pose.
“We would like to reassure our valued customers and partners that the assays we are currently using to detect SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) are capable of successfully identifying persons with either the common strain of the virus or its mutated variants”, the release said.
