April 14, Kathmandu-  It has been confirmed that a new variant of Coronavirus has spread in Nepal. According to Krishna Prasad Poudel, Director, Epidemiology, and Disease Control Division, a variant called B Point One Point Seven has been confirmed in the UK.

After the confirmation of the new variant in India, the new variant was monitored in Nepal from last January. In early January, the S -gene was found negative in four percent of the samples. Two months later, the S-gene was negative at 77 percent. Then 10 samples with S-negative negative and 15 samples with S-positive positive were sent to Hong Kong for testing.

According to a report from Hong Kong, new variants have been confirmed in nine of the 10 S-Gene negative samples. Poudel said they were between 21 and 59 years old. They have been confirmed to be UK variants. Two of them are from Kaski, four from Kathmandu, two from Bhaktapur, and one from Nuwakot.

The double mutant virus found in India has been confirmed in one person. According to Poudel, a person from Lalitpur has been confirmed. Five genes are tested in the body to detect new variants - S gene, N gene, E gene, ORF gene, and RDRP gene.

To find a new variant of these, the S gene must be negative and the report of all other genes must be positive. To find a new variant, a person must be corona positive. S gen must be negative. If the corona looks positive and the S gene looks positive, it is not a new variant.

 Among these,  76 samples collected in Kathmandu last year, 48 samples (63 percent) were found to be S-negative. About 20 percent of the samples are for children under the age of 20. Director Poudel says that most of them are in the age group of 35 to 39 years.

In the last 24 hours report received in Pokhara, 105 out of 176 samples showed S gene negative.  Among them, 51 are in the age group of 10 to 14 years.