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UK variant of coronavirus reaches Belarus

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MINSK, 11 March (BelTA) – The UK variant of coronavirus has been found in Belarus, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Healthcare Ministry.

“The first cases of the UK variant of COVID-19 have been detected in Belarus. This was confirmed by findings of a study conducted by the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology,” the press service noted.

Yelena Gasich, head of the laboratory for diagnostics of HIV and associated infections, said that the center conducts continuous genotyping to determine mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus circulating in or imported into the country. The first samples of the UK variant were identified in people who arrived from abroad - Poland, Ukraine, Egypt. Several cases of local transmission of the UK variant were also confirmed.

Yelena Gasich noted that “the deletion at position 69/70 in the spike protein has been found in the samples. This deletion is common for the UK variant of the virus”. The analysis of viral genome sequence data identified other spike protein mutations (N501Y, A570D, D614G) present in four samples, which also suggests that it was the UK variant. In order to confirm the presence of new COVID-19 variants in Belarus, one of the samples was subject to whole-genome sequencing, and the analysis of this sample in the GISAID database revealed that this genome belonged to the UK variant.

The press service added that the COVID-19 pandemic is aggravated, among other things, by mutations of the pathogen. This is common for RNA genomic viruses (for example, influenza, HIV). Thus, it is of paramount importance to track mutations, observe social distancing and conduct vaccinations.

The new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, dubbed B.1.1.7, was detected in November 2020. According to WHO, more than 100 countries around the world have reported cases of the UK variant of coronavirus.

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