A new strain of coronavirus is spreading at a rate that exceeds the worst forecasts. This was announced by the Prime Minister of Ireland Mikal Martin, reported on website of the government.
“It is already quite obvious that we are dealing with a strain of the disease that is spreading much, much faster. In fact, it is spreading at a rate that exceeds the most pessimistic models known to us,” Martin emphasized, commenting on the tightening of restrictions on the background of the coronavirus until January 31.
As explained by the Prime Minister, currently the country’s health care system is under the threat of overload due to an increase in morbidity. In addition, the risks of death among the most vulnerable segments of the population are significantly increasing.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in Ireland, 90,157 cases of coronavirus infection have been identified, with 2,267 deaths recorded among those infected.
Earlier in December, the World Health Organization (WHO) expert and President of the International Tropical Federation Medicine Santiago Mas Coma stated that a new mutation of the coronavirus could cause a third wave of the pandemic .
A dangerous mutation of the coronavirus was first discovered in the UK in September, but it began to spread actively in December. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the new strain could be 70 percent more contagious. The mutation affected the area of the spike protein on the surface of the coronavirus, which is responsible for attaching to cells located in the mucous membrane of the lungs and a number of other organs.