‘Preliminary data’ suggests a new UK Covid-19 variant identified in Ireland for the first time

Updated 6 minutes ago

IRELAND HEALTH OFFICIALS have said that preliminary data suggests that the new variant of Covid-19 that is spreading in the UK is present in Ireland.

Research is underway on the new variant to determine if it is more infectious than other strains of the coronavirus after UK health officials said it could be up to 70% more transmissible.

Speaking earlier this week, the director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, Dr. Cillian De Gascun, said that the variant had not yet been identified in Ireland, but its presence here could not be ruled out.

The variant has been seen in the UK since September 20.

In a statement today, De Gascun said tests indicate that the variant is present in samples in Ireland.

“Preliminary data would suggest, based on a selection of samples tested over the weekend, that the new UK variant is present in Ireland.”

He added:

However, given the chronology of the samples analyzed, it would appear that the new variant is not solely responsible for the recent increase in the number of cases observed in Ireland.

Speaking at a briefing tonight, De Gascun said the variant has been here since at least mid-December, but an analysis is underway to see how far back it has been around.

The work we’ve done since the weekend would have been samples that would have been taken over the weekend, so from the 18th to the 20th. So if those people had gotten infected, I guess a week before that, it certainly has Been here probably since the second week of December.

“But as part of the work that we will be doing is going back in time to see exactly when it first appeared.”

Concern over the tension has led a large number of European countries, including Ireland, to suspend flights from the UK.

In announcing new, tougher restrictions over the Christmas period, Taoiseach Micheál Martin also said the government was “proceeding with the assumption” that the variant was already here.

Regarding the possibility that the new strain is more infectious than other strains, De Gascun has said that “there is no strong evidence” that it is more transmissible, but that it is “prudent” to act on the basis that this is the case. .

Speaking tonight, Medical Director Dr. Tony Holohan said there is no evidence at this time that there is “widespread transmission” of the new variant.

“We have seen a significant amount of socialization, we just have to operate and I think the precautionary thing from our point of view and the message that the public has to take is that it is our own behavior that determines what we have. viewed.

If you limit your social contacts and distance yourself from other people, if you distance yourself from each other when they are symptomatic and all those simple measures that we continue to recommend, you will be protected against whatever variant we are talking about.

The new variant led to London and parts of the south and east of England rushing to a new, stricter Tier 4 regime, effectively canceling Christmas plans and imposing measures similar to previous national closures.