LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th December, 2020) Ireland has detected the new strain of coronavirus that was previously found in the United Kingdom, Chief Medical Officer of the Irish Department of Health Tony Holohan said Friday.
Last week, the UK identified a new variant of the coronavirus that is 70 percent more transmissible than other SARS-CoV-2 virus strains. In response, Ireland has imposed a 14-day quarantine for everyone arriving from the UK.
"I can confirm that we have detected the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2 by whole genome sequencing at the National Virus Reference Laboratory in UCD [University College Dublin]," Holohan said as quoted in a statement by the country's health department.
The country has confirmed a total of 84,098 cases, including 2,194 fatalities.
