Vietnam has detected a new coronavirus variant originating in South Africa in a foreign expert who had been quarantined upon his arrival in Hanoi in December.

The patient, a 25-year-old South African expert, landed at Noi Bai International Airport in the capital on December 19.

He tested positive for the novel coronavirus on December 23 and was confirmed as Vietnam’s COVID-19 patient No. 1,422.

The patient was brought to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi for treatment.

The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology has sequenced the virus and determined that the patient is carrying a new coronavirus variant from South Africa.

This is the first time the coronavirus mutation has been recorded in the Southeast Asian country.

In early January, the first imported case of another coronavirus variant originating in the UK was announced.

The variant was detected in a 44-year-old woman returning to Vietnam from Britain, who was quarantined upon arrival and was confirmed positive for the virus on December 24.

The UK variant has spread to 70 countries, while the South Africa variant has been recorded in more than 30 nations, the Vietnamese health ministry stated.

These new coronavirus mutations are said to be more transmissible than the old one.

Vietnam has confirmed 1,781 coronavirus cases, including 914 domestic infections, as of Sunday morning, with 1,456 recoveries and 35 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

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