Highly infectious coronavirus variant detected in Russia

A Russian medical worker administers a shot of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in Moscow (AP)

A highly infectious variant of Covid-19 has been detected in Russia, a top public health official said.

Anna Popova, a doctor who heads Rospotrebnadzor, a government agency for human wellbeing, said on state television that the variant had been found in one patient, who had returned to the country from Britain, where it has spread widely.