Presence of Colombian variant of novel coronavirus confirmed in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA. KAZINFORM – Laboratories in Slovakia have confirmed the presence of a new, so-called Colombian variant of novel coronavirus in the country, TASR learnt from Public Health Authority (UVZ) spokesperson Dasa Rackova on Friday.

«We’ve identified three cases as being of the so-called Colombian, i.e. B.1.621 variant, based on bioinformatics analyses carried out by our partners from the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics of Comenius University in Bratislava,» said virologist Boris Klempa of the Biomedical Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV).

Klempa noted that this variant has been spreading very quickly and begun to become dominant in various regions of Colombia. Therefore, he expects the variant to become highly significant from the epidemiological viewpoint.

«The figures for this variant are growing in the USA and in Spain, and it’s been confirmed in other European countries, such as Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, as well,» said Klempa.

According to UVZ, the Colombian variant has been confirmed among members of a single family in Slovakia. «The respective regional public health authority hasn’t found any travel history among members of this family. The family has stated three other people as close contacts. None of them have been inoculated against COVID-19. All the necessary anti-epidemic measures have been taken,» said Slovakia’s chief hygienist Jan Mikas.