(Reuters) – Northern Ireland on Wednesday confirmed a positive test for the highly contagious variant of the coronavirus that has emerged in Britain.
The Northern Ireland Department of Health said in a statement here that the variant appears to have been present in the British-run region for some time.
There was no evidence to suggest that the variant causes a worse illness or higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and medications, he said.
The new strain of the pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is spreading rapidly in Britain and provoking high levels of concern among its European neighbors, some of which have cut transport links.
“While virus mutation is not uncommon, the potential for this new strain to spread rapidly is a matter of great concern,” the Northern Ireland Chief Medical Officer said in the statement.
Last week, Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, announced that almost everyone would be under maximum control after Christmas when entering lockdown. six weeks in an effort to achieve an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Reporting by Aakriti Bhalla and Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Edited by Leslie Adler and Nick Macfie