Almost third of Covid-19 samples show mutation, but not more severe disease - WHO

Almost 30% of genome sequencing data from samples of the Covid-19 virus collected by the World Health Organization have shown signs of mutation, but there is no evidence that it has led to more severe disease, a top WHO official said on Friday.

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"I think it's quite widespread," Soumya Swaminathan, WHO chief scientist, told Reuters on the sidelines of a briefing held by the UN journalists' association ACANU in Geneva.

The UN agency has so far collected 60,000 samples of the disease, she said.