 Officials say Vietnam has detected a COVID variant that appears to be a combination of the Indian and UK variants and can spread quickly by air. Health Minister Ngu Yen Tan Long described the latest mutation on Saturday as very dangerous. Now, viruses mutate all the time and most variants are inconsequential, but some can make a virus more contagious. Since COVID-19 was first identified in January 2020, thousands of mutations have been detected. Ngu Yen said the new hybrid variant was more transmissible than previously known versions, especially in the air.