Emergence of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Virus Variant With Novel Genomic Architecture in Hong Kong.

Throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, divergent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) lineages have emerged continuously, mostly through the genomic accumulation of substitutions. We report the discovery of a SARS-CoV-2 variant with a novel genomic architecture characterized by absent ORF7a, ORF7b, and ORF8, and a C-terminally modified ORF6 product resulting from partial 5'-untranslated region (UTR) duplication and transposition.

Genome Sequences of Three SARS-CoV-2 ORF7a Deletion Variants Obtained from Patients in Hong Kong.

We report the genome sequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) strains from the clinical samples of three coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in Hong Kong. All the genome sequences showed a 370-nucleotide deletion resulting in the complete loss of ORF7a.