Vietnam announced on Saturday that it had discovered a novel COVID-19 variant that shared traits with both the British and Indian strains of the virus, according to official media.

According to local daily VnExpress, Vietnam's minister of health, Nguyen Thanh Long, revealed the novel hybrid variant was discovered through genetic sequencing on COVID-19 patients in Vietnam.

The virus's British and Indian variations are considered to be more transmissible than other strains, which could explain why Vietnam is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases.

The additional cases are linked to a 27-year-old Vietnamese man who returned from Japan on April 7 and a Chinese expert who entered the country for work, both of whom tested positive after completing their two-week obligatory quarantine.