Highly contagious UK Covid-19 variant found in North Cyprus

The mutated variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has spread from the UK to the rest of the world, has been detected in North Cyprus.

The new variant was detected in the TRNC following analyses performed at the COVID-19 PCR Diagnostic Laboratory, the Near East University DESAM Research Institute has announced.

According to NEU, in the analyses performed on 17 COVID-19 samples diagnosed at PCR Testing Laboratory in November-December 2020 and January-February 2021, it was found that the British variant known as ‘B117’ had spread in North Cyprus. In the analyses, 9 out of 17 samples were found to have the ‘B117’ variant.

 80% of cases in February caused by Virus Mutation

The first case of the UK variant in North Cyprus was seen on January 13. On 3 February, 8 out of 10 cases diagnosed with Covid-19 were found to be the ‘B117’ variant. Analyses showed that in the TRNC, where the daily number of cases have exceeded 50, the reason for this increase was the mutated virus, first detected in the UK and 70 percent more contagious.

LGC News, Yeniduzen