INSP, the National Institute of Public Health, announced today that the British strain of the Coronavirus has reached almost all of Romania at the moment, in three quarters of the country's counties, cases with this mutation of the virus have been confirmed.
INSP basically tells us what we see in other countries in Europe, that the British strain is spreading very quickly, and it is not excluded that it will become dominant very soon in Europe, as already said by the authorities in Romania, but also in other hard, in a few lines.
"Circulation of the British variant of SARS-CoV-2 - genetic line B.1.1.7 has already been demonstrated for 71,4% of the country's counties and there is a high probability that it has already covered the entire territory of Romania. This corresponds to a confirmation rate of 52,8%.
Combined efforts are needed to perform variant-specific RT-PCR testing, and a set of samples will be sequenced. It is essential to communicate the results to DSP and INSP-CNSCBT as soon as possible after the completion of laboratory investigations, in order to quickly carry out epidemiological investigations and to institute the necessary measures against cases and contacts, considering the increased transmissibility of VOC (variants that cause concern) and, according to evidence from the UK regarding the B.1.1.7 variant, the greater severity of the disease it causes."
