Five cases of the Mu variant of Covid-19 were detected in St Vincent and the Grenadines between July 19 and August 9, 2021 the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) has reported.

The Mu variant – B.1.621 was named a variant of interest by the World Health Organization (WHO) on August 30, 2021.

“A variant of interest (VOI) is one that has genetic differences to the other known  variants and is causing infections in multiple countries, and therefore might present a particular  threat to public health. A VOI is not a variant of concern (VOC), which is a variant that has been  proven to be either more transmissible, cause severe disease or is able to escape the immune  response making it more dangerous and so more consequential,” the release from NEMO said.

“Mu is the fifth ‘variant of interest’ to be monitored by WHO since March 2020. The WHO weekly  COVID-19 bulletin states that this variant of interest ‘has a constellation of mutations’ that may  make it less susceptible to vaccines and immunity from natural infections. Research and further  monitoring will be done to better understand the characteristics of this variant of interest.

“On review of sequencing results for samples sent from St Vincent and the Grenadines to the COVID-19 IMPACT Project Lab through the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), five  (5) cases of the Mu variant were detected between July 19th, 2021, and August 9th, 2021. All cases  were detected within the community as contacts of other positive cases and from persons seeking  healthcare,” the release said.

Meanwhile, four new cases of Covid-19 were reported from 36 samples processed on Monday September 6, 2021, resulting in a positivity rate of 11.1 per cent, the report from NEMO said.

“Five new recoveries were noted over the reporting period. Sixty-five cases are currently  active and 12 persons with COVID-19 have died. Two thousand three hundred and eighty nine (2389) cases of COVID-19 and two thousand, three hundred and twelve (2312) recoveries  have been recorded in St. Vincent and The Grenadines since March 2020.

“In view of the confirmed presence of the Mu variant of interest in the community and the increased  risk of infection and subsequent transmission of COVID-19 posed by the growing incidence of  variants of concern in persons entering St. Vincent and the Grenadines, strict compliance with all  protocols and recommendations is strongly recommended. These include the effective use of  masks, physical distancing, hand sanitizing and immunization with available vaccines,” the release said.