A coronavirus mutation first detected in Vietnam does not meet the World Health Organization's definition of a new variant, according to the global health body's Vietnam representative.
"There is no new hybrid variant in Vietnam at this moment based on WHO definition," Dr. Kidong Park, Vietnam's WHO representative, told the news publication Nikkei Asia June 3.
Instead, it's a mutation of the existing variant first detected in India, known as Delta, Dr. Park added.
The clarification follows a May 29 announcement from Vietnam health officials saying they had detected a new, more transmissible variant that appeared to be a hybrid of strains first found in the U.K. and India.
"The variant detected is Delta variant, with additional mutations, and needs more observation," Dr. Park said in the latest update. "As for now, there is no alarming alert from WHO," he added.