New strain of coronavirus under control: Ireland health experts

Ireland was one of the countries which reported cases of the new variant of coronavirus — first identified in the UK. The neighbouring country of the UK had also reported three new cases of the other strain of the coronavirus from South Africa.

A state of panic had taken over the country after the new strains were reported. However, the health experts in Ireland have now assured the locals that the new strains have successfully been contained in the country.

Cases of the new variant of South Africahad been reported in Ireland on Friday after three people had travelled to Ireland from South Africa during the Christmas holidays.

"The UK variant is of more concern to us purely because of the amount of virus that’s on the island, and we know that it’s transmitting in the community,"Cillian De Gascun, the head of Ireland’s national virus laboratory told the local media. "The good thing about the South African variant is we know exactly where those cases came from, they have been contained, controlled and contact traced, and to the best of my knowledge there was no onward transmission."

Ireland had observed a surge in coronavirus cases which exceeded last year's first wave. Since the identification of the new variant in the UK, Ireland has reported nearly 25 per cent positive cases which have then further been tested. This has increased from a previous nine per cent rate two weeks before January 03.

Since the identification of the new strains, Ireland has announced another strict lockdown urging people to stay indoors to make sure another "tsunami" of coronavirus cases does not pile up due to the new variants.

Ireland hospitals have also urged the government to increase funding as the Intensive Care Units (ICU) are struggling to meet the rising demands with a surge in coronavirus cases.