INSP: 676 cases with SARS-CoV-2 strains that cause concern; most with UK variant

The National Institute of Public Health (INSP) informs on Thursday that, until April 4, a number of 1,178 sequencings of SARS-CoV-2 were reported and 676 cases were confirmed with variants of the virus that cause concern.

The five laboratories that reported these results are the "Cantacuzino" Institute, the "Matei Bals" Institute, MedLife, the "Stefan cel Mare" University of Suceava and the "Stefan S. Nicolau" Institute of Virology, states INSP in the weekly information on COVID-19 cases confirmed with SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Thus, 676 cases with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern were confirmed, of which 670 with the British version (B.1.1.7), four cases with the South African version (B.1.351) and two with the Brazilian one (P.1).

"The new case confirmed with the South African version B.1.351 is a 69-year-old woman from Valcea County. No epidemiological link was identified. One of the cases with Suceava infection county was confirmed with the genetic line B.1.1.7 in which the E484K mutation was detected. The E484K mutation is not in itself a new variant, but is a mutation that was initially identified in the South African variant (B.1.351), then Brazilian B.1.1.28 (different from VOC B.1.351) and, more recently, at the British one (B.1.1.7) The mutation is in the spike protein and appears to have an impact on the body's immune response and possibly on vaccine efficacy in the sense of its decrease," states INSP.

Until April 4, 2021, the confirmation rate with worrying variants was 57.4%.

There were 27 confirmed deaths with SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, all with the British variant (B.1.1.7), according to the INSP. AGERPRES