Russian Watchdog Says No Grounds To Conclude Russian Students Have Indian COVID-19 Strain

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2021) An analysis of the genome sequences of COVID-19 fragments found in students from Russia's Ulyanovsk does not allow attributing them to the Indian coronavirus strain, the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Russia's watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said on Thursday.

Scientists from Rospotrebnadzor's genomic research center deciphered the genetic sequence of the coronavirus strain isolated in students of the Ulyanovsk State University.

"According to experts' data, the analysis of the genome sequences of the coronavirus isolates found in the students does not allow attributing them to the 'Indian' strain, which people are now commonly afraid of. There is no data from which it could be concluded that these particular isolates from the Ulyanovsk students pose a greater danger than the regular coronavirus," the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology said in a statement.