New Covid strain: Ireland confirms UK coronavirus variant present

Dublin - "Further testing in the coming days and weeks will establish the extent to which it is present here," said health official.



By Reuters

Published: Fri 25 Dec 2020, 8:20 PM

Last updated: Fri 25 Dec 2020, 8:23 PM

Ireland confirmed on Friday the presence of a highly infectious new coronavirus variant whose presence in the United Kingdom has brought travel bans from a number of countries.

“I can confirm that we have detected the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 by whole genome sequencing at the National Virus Reference Laboratory” in University College Dublin, Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan said in a statement.

“Further testing in the coming days and weeks will establish the extent to which it is present here,” he added.


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