UK variant makes up 94 per cent of Irish Covid cases sequenced - report

Transmission of the UK variant is now “widespread in Ireland” with 94 per cent of cases sequenced since the end of February found to be infected with the variant.

Two cases of the B117, or the UK variant, identified in Ireland have been found to have the additional E484K mutation.

A summary report of Covid-19 virus variants in Ireland prepared by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) and UCD National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) has been published.

The report relates to cases that were sequenced between December 13th and April 10th.

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There were 6,623 cases of the UK variant confirmed, along with 55 cases of the B1351 South African variant, 24 cases of the P1 Brazil variant and three cases of the India variant.

Other "variants of interest" that have been found include variants which have originated in Nigeria, New York, California and Mayotte.

The B1351 South African variant was detected in eight children under the age of 18 years and in four people over age 65.

The Brazil variant has also been found in two children, with 11 cases in people aged between 19 and 34 with no cases confirmed in the over 65 age cohort.

The report said current whole genome sequencing capacity is approximately 1,000 specimens per week.

One further death from Covid-19 was reported on Friday, along with 434 new cases of the virus.

There have now been a total of 4,867 Covid-19 related deaths reported in the pandemic and 245,743 confirmed cases of the virus.