Another variant of COVID-19 with a large number of mutations was discovered in France last month, but scientists have urged people not to panic. The variant is known as B.1.640.2, or colloquially as “IHU,” after the researchers at Méditerranée Infection University Hospital Institute discovered it. In a study published Dec. 29, researchers said that the B.1.640.2 variant had been found in 12 people living in the same area of southeastern France last year who tested positive for COVID-19. The first identified case in the group was a male adult who had returned from travel to Cameroon three days before in mid-November. The male was vaccinated against COVID-19 and developed mild respiratory symptoms the day before diagnosis. Genome sequencing was carried out and revealed an atypical combination of mutations. “Subsequent detection by qPCR of three mutations in the spike gene to screen for variants, as systematically performed in France in case of SARS-CoV-2 positivity, revealed an …