The British variant is the dominant variant in COVID samples sent to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), but in two samples the Indian variant was also detected.
According to an announcement by the Health Ministry in a total of 170 samples, the British variant (Β.1.1.7) was detected in 166, the Indian (Β.1.617.2) in two and in two samples the variant C.36 was detected which, according to the ECDC, is not a variant of concern.
The samples were from cases diagnosed from April 30 to May 21 and from those the 91 refer to persons with permanent residence in Nicosia district, 46 in Limassol, 8 in Paphos, 16 in Larnaka and 9 in Famagusta.
The Ministry points out that regardless of the strict measures at airports, the risk for new variants to reach Cyprus is high, adding that the inoculation and adherence with the measures and protocols in place remain the strongest means to contain the spread of the COVID.
