New strain of coronavirus discovered in Moscow by Russian scientists

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Moscow: At Russia`s Gamaleya National Center scientists claimed to have identified a new variant of the coronavirus, naming it after the national capital since the strain was first found in Moscow as cases across the country spiked.

Scientists that designed the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine are studying the effectiveness against the new strain, Gamaleya Center head Alexander Gintsburg was quoted as saying to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency, the Moscow Times said in a report.

"We think that the vaccine will be effective, but we must wait for the study results," Gintsburg said.

New strains of the virus emerging in Moscow couldn`t be ruled out, Gamaleya`s deputy head Denis Logunov was quoted as saying. Though, epidemiologists have confirmed of mutated coronavirus strains originating from Russia there is bery limited information about these strains.

Russia has witnessed a spurt in COVID-19 cases, on Wednesday, the country reported 13,397 new cases and 396 fatalities. Of these, 5,782 cases were from Moscow.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced a "non-working week" from June 15 to 19 to curb the worrisome rise in COVID-19 infections.