Five cases of second UK Covid-19 variant detected in Northern Ireland

Five cases of Covid-19 variant, B.1.1.318, have been detected in Northern Ireland, data from Public Health England (PHE) has confirmed.
Andrew Quinn
By Andrew Quinn
Published 14th May 2021, 19:53 BST
Updated 14th May 2021, 20:04 BST
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The five positive cases were detected in Northern Ireland in the last week, the Public Health Agency (PHA) confirmed.

“PHA regularly reports on all VOCs (Variants Of Concern) and VUIs (Variants Under Investigation) to PHE which compiles and publishes the UK variant data on a weekly basis," said a spokesperson for the PHA.

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"These are the first cases of VUI-21FEB-04 (B.1.1.318) detected in NI and we are following up as we do with all variants under investigation / variants of concern.

People wait in line to receive their Covid-19 vaccine in the SSE Arena, Belfast.People wait in line to receive their Covid-19 vaccine in the SSE Arena, Belfast.
People wait in line to receive their Covid-19 vaccine in the SSE Arena, Belfast.

"We can confirm that these cases were reported to the PHA during the past week," the spokesperson added.

B.1.1.318 was declared a variant under investigation by the PHE on February 24, 2021.

The variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in on February 15, 2021.

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Total confirmed cases of B.1.1.318 up to May 12, 2021 are as follows: England - 190; Scotland - nine; Wales - zero and Northern Ireland - five.

In the last 24 hours, the Department of Health (DoH) recorded no additional Covid-19 related deaths and 96 new infections.

The total number of infections and deaths in Northern Ireland since the beginning of the pandemic 121,419 and 2,149 respectively.

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Related topics:Northern IrelandPublic Health EnglandVOCs

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