Scientists have identified a new variant of the coronavirus in Belo Horizonte city. Researchers from the Institute of Biological Sciences of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and from the Research and Development Sector of the Pardini Group sequenced 85 SARS-CoV-2 genomes from samples collected in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte and detected two new genomes with mutations not yet reported.

According to a note released by UFMG, the two genomes have a set of 18 mutations.

These two new genomes are in samples collected on February 27 and 28, 2021 and there is no evidence of an epidemiological link between them, such as kinship or residential region, which reinforces the possibility that the variant is already circulating.