The UK variant of COVID-19 is circulating officially in Albania. The news was confirmed by the Minister of Health Ogera Manastirliu, who said during the conference of the Committee of Experts, that the new version of the virus was found after the examinations of some samples in collaboration with Turkish health institutions. According to the Head of the Control of Infectious Diseases Department of the Institute of Public Health Silvia Bino, “In Albania have been found mutations that were analyzed in suspected samples, that have had contacts with people from outside Albania, or that have been re-infected, or people that have been hospitalized to treat their respiratory diseases.” In 70% of the samples that were examined, it was found the B.1.1.7 strain of the novel coronavirus, or the UK variant as it is commonly refereed.
While until this week the UK variant was known only for its ability to spread more rapidly than the initial version of the virus, the latest studies shows that this version is between 30 to 100 percent more deadly than previous strains. Yesterday a new study published in the British Medical Journal, said that from a sample of 54,906 patients infected with the UK variant, there were 227 deaths, while for the same number of patients with the initial version of COVID-19, there were only 141 deaths.
