MURMANSK, RUSSIA, (Sputnik) – Sweden has reported the first case of the new coronavirus strain recently discovered in the UK, Swedish Public Health Agency department head Sara Byfors said on Saturday.
“It has been confirmed that a person from Sodermanland contracted the COVID-19 mutant strain discovered in the UK,” Byfors told a news conference.
The official added that the infected person had arrived from the UK and had isolated himself on returning home. The patient’s family did not contract the infection.
Byfors stressed that Sweden had initiated large-scale investigations to find out if the new strain of the infection was spreading in the country.
“Since the information came out, we have intensified monitoring. Today we look at the tests of all those who returned from the UK from October. On Monday we issued a recommendation for everyone traveling to pass the tests in order to control the infection. and ensure that this variant of the virus does not spread to Sweden, ”Byfors said.
Last week, the UK announced that a new strain of coronavirus was detected in the country, with the new variant 70 per cent more transmissible than other variants of SARS-CoV-2. After the news broke, many countries suspended travel to and from the UK. However, there is no evidence that the new strain is more pathogenic. Several countries have reported cases of the new variant of the virus, including Denmark, Japan, Singapore and Spain.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Sweden has not confirmed any new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, with a total of 396,048. The country recorded 28,928 new COVID-19 infections last week.