B.1.640

The new Covid-19 variant, B.1.640, was detected by French researchers and is probably of Cameroonian origin, is not "circulating widely at the moment" and has so far been identified in less than 1 per cent of the samples sequenced in France, the World Health Organization said. The strain is known as the 'IHU' variant because it was first identified by academics at the IHU Mediterranee Infection Institute in Marseille, France, reports Xinhua news agency. At a press meet on Thursday, Maria van Kerkhove the technical lead for the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, said that it was first detected in September…