Colombia registers two cases of the British variant of covid-19

Dr. Huerta: Variants of covid-19 put vaccines at risk 3:59

(CNN Spanish) -

The Minister of Health of Colombia, Fernando Ruiz, reported this Friday that the National Institute of Health detected in the department of Caldas two samples of the variant identified for the first time in the United Kingdom.

The minister said that now they will have to study the chain of contacts for each positive case.

"Genomic surveillance network @INSColombia identified 2 non-dominant British strain samples in Caldas," Ruiz said in a message on Twitter.

In addition, he reiterated the importance of maintaining security measures and social distancing.

The British variant of the coronavirus, called B.1.1.7, was discovered in September 2020 in Kent, south of London.

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Today it is already one of the most dominant in the world, as it is more contagious than others.

However, despite its higher level of transmission, a study recently published in

The Lancet

affirms that it is not more lethal.

Colombia accumulates more than 2.6 million infections and at least 67,560 deaths from covid-19, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

This Thursday, the authorities reported that Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, Barranquilla and Santa Marta will implement a general quarantine for the next few days with the aim of reducing the spread of the virus due to the increase in infections.

coronavirus