Coronavirus. Puglia, English variant case identified

2020-12-24T15:14:21.065Z

"We have identified the first Apulian covid case with a strain that has the so-called English variant. The result of this work is the result of a collaboration between the territorial services, laboratory of the Policlinico di Bari regional reference center and the Zooprophylactic Institute of Puglia and Basilicata ": the Apulian health councilor Pier Luigi Lopalco communicates this. "The swab was taken by an Apulian woman returning from the United Kingdom last December 19 - explained the commissioner - The so-called English variant arouses our attention from a scientific point of view, but at present it must not cause concern in citizens, because it is first necessary to verify whether it is actually more contagious or not than the variants already in circulation. The surveillance system we have put in place is proving effective in identifying and isolating these cases promptly. Molecular surveillance is always useful for analyzing the dynamics of spread of the virus. In Puglia, for example, starting from the end of the summer the Spanish strain was the predominant one, introduced in the region by Apulian tourists returning from Spain ".