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Greek health authorities have confirmed the country’s first case infected with strain B.1.617, a variant of the coronavirus that was first detected in India.
The National Public Health Organization (NPHO) said in a statement on Friday that the positive sample belonged to a resident of Patras, western Greece, who developed symptoms from March 16 and was detected in tests conducted by the National Genomic Surveillance Network on March 22.
The epidemiological investigation showed that the man had no history of travel or contact with a known confirmed case, read the press release.
The man is reported to have mild symptoms “without requiring hospitalization” and research work has begun.
Strain B.1.617. contains several mutations, including two key mutations – L452R and E484Q. This is why it is called “double mutant”.
However, the strain detected in Greece “does not carry the E484Q mutation, which is characterized as an immune system escape mutation,” the statement said.
There were 329,134 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 9,864 deaths in Greece on Saturday evening.
India, where B.1.617. The variant is predominant, the world’s highest daily tally of coronavirus cases reported for the third day on Saturday with more than 340,000 new cases.
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