Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A new strain of the coronavirus COVID-19 was discovered in the city of Marseille, France.

The Austrian newspaper Heute, which reported on the new virus, suggests that the mutated virus was introduced to France by a person who returned from Cameroon. Currently, 12 people are infected.

The vaccination rate in Cameroon is 2.4 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University. New mutations develop especially actively in unvaccinated and infected people.

In a new variant of Sars-CoV-2, designated B.1.640.2, experts at the Marseille IHU Mediterranee Infection found 46 mutations. It is not yet known if this strain is more infectious than omicron.

Earlier it was suggested that omicron could be the last strain in a pandemic. An Austrian newspaper called the news of the French find "potentially bad."