Three cases of the Brazilian variant found in Republic
THREE cases of the Brazilian variant of Covid-19 have been detected in Ireland for the first time, the Department of Health said.
All are directly associated with recent travel from the South American country, the authorities said.
They are being followed up by public health teams and enhanced measures have been put in place.
Ireland’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Ronan Glynn said: “Anyone who has recently travelled from Brazil, or any of the other 19 countries recently designated by the Minister for Health as ‘Category 2’, is required by law to quarantine at home for 14 days.”
The Brazil variant could be much more contagious or easy to catch than the original version of coronavirus.
It has undergone changes to its spike protein — the part of the virus which attaches to human cells.
It first emerged in July. Dr Glynn added: “This P1 variant has previously been identified in a small number of European countries, including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
“While there is currently no microbiological or epidemiological evidence of any change in transmissibility of P1, this is plausible.
“Further studies are required to determine whether this variant is likely to have an impact on vaccine effectiveness or infection severity.”
Meanwhile, yesterday Health Minister Robin Swann said a gradual emergence from Northern Ireland’s lockdown may prevent a future one.
It was confirmed on Thursday that lockdown measures will remain in place until April.
Mr Swann said the decision will be reviewed by ministers on March 18 — but warned it was unrealistic to hope for any major relaxation for Easter.
“The figures are moving in the right direction but they started from a very high point this time round and that’s the challenge that we face in the health service,” he told the BBC.
“We are still supporting more inpatients with Covid today than we were at the peak of the first wave so there would be no point in saying where we will be in a number of weeks’ time.”
Yesterday the Department of Health announced a further five people had died with Covid-19 in Northern Ireland. Another 313 people tested positive. Some 369 hospital beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients, with 49 in intensive care.
Mr Swann also announced that anyone who is the main carer for someone who is elderly or disabled, and is aged 18 or over, can book a vaccination online at one of the seven trust centres.
It comes as statistics show the weekly toll of coronavirus deaths in Northern Ireland continues to fall.