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The new variant of coronavirus circulating in the UK has not been detected in Ireland, according to the director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory.
Cillian De Gascun, who is also a member of the National Public Health Emergency Team, revealed the news in a post on Twitter today.
It came after British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the House of Commons yesterday that a new variant of the coronavirus had been identified in England.
“Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than existing variants,” he warned.
“We have currently identified more than 1,000 cases with this variant predominantly in southern England, although cases have been identified in almost 60 different local authority areas.”
Dr De Gascun revealed on Twitter that “based on available sequence data, the new SarsCoV2 UK variant has not been detected” in Ireland to date.
Based on available sequence data @nvrlucdireland the novel # SARS-CoV-2 🦠#UK #variant has not been detected in #Ireland🇮🇪 (ROI) to date. With thanks to colleagues @ firefoxx66 @nextstrain @GISAID Highlights the importance of #surveillance #Firm hold #EveryContactCounts # COVID-19
– Cillian De Gascun (@CillianDeGascun) December 15, 2020
He said the development highlighted the “importance of vigilance.”
Speaking on RTÉ’s News At One later, he said that while the UK has been very quick to share data on the new strain of Covid 19, “there is no evidence at this time that the virus should pose a significant concern” .
Dr De Gascun confirmed that no cases of the new strain of Covid-19 have been identified here or in Northern Ireland and “it was important to reassure people that new strains of a virus are constantly emerging.”
He said we don’t yet know if it is more transmissible than any other variant of the virus.
At this time “there was no evidence” that it caused a more serious disease and it was “too early” to say whether it will have an impact on the effectiveness of the vaccine or on a person’s immune response.
The virologist said it was not impossible, but “highly unlikely” that a single mutation would nullify the response to the vaccine.
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Martin McKee, a professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the new variant of Covid-19 is not “significantly different.”
It shouldn’t take long to see if the new vaccines will work, he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
Professor McKee said that the news of the new strain of the virus was announced in a “very unusual way, particularly since there have been many other mutations in recent months that were not announced in the same way.”
He added that the mutation could well mean that the virus has weakened.
Earlier, British virologist Dr Chris Smith told BBC Breakfast that, despite spreading more rapidly, the new variant of the coronavirus may not be any more “unpleasant”.
“Once it infects you, once it penetrates you, it doesn’t really make you sick,” he said.
“That seems to be the pattern right now and the other crucial question right now is ‘Is that change enough to avoid what the vaccine does to protect us?’
“For now, the answer appears to be no, but that’s something we need to watch out for.”
Dr Smith added that the discovery of the new variant reassured him, as it “shows that the system is working.”
Additional reports: PA
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