A Biopath analysis laboratory in Nord-Pas-de-Calais detected the presence of the B.1.621 strain, also called the Colombian variant. This is the first case in Hauts-de-France.
“On August 3, in Montreuillois, our teams performed a nasopharyngeal swab that turned out to be the first case of variant 21H (B.1.621), said the Colombian who has detected,” said the laboratory in its weekly variant sequencing report. of Covid- 19.
This strain has already been identified in ten French regions by Public Health France, for a total of 53 cases, including 45 since last June.
For now, the WHO has not placed this variant on the “concern” list, like the Delta variant, or “to watch” like the Lambda variant. However, this new mutation has been the subject of “enhanced surveillance” since the end of May.
Last July, this variant caused the death of seven residents of a nursing home in Belgium, in the department dedicated to patients suffering from dementia. The latter were all vaccinated.
The Colombian variant is present in some thirty countries, including the United States and several in Europe.