Brazilian Covid mutation registered in the Faroes

A Faroese person who last week travelled to the Faroes from Brazil tested positive for Covid-19 in a follow-up test three days after arrival.

After the test sample had been sequenced, it turned out to contain a Brazilian Covid mutation which has most likely not been registered anywhere else in Europe, according to chief medical officer Lars Fodgaard Møller.

No cause for alarm

“We don’t know much about this mutation,” he says.

“It may be slightly more contagious than other strains we have seen in the Faroes, but it is nowhere near as contagious as the UK or the South African strains.”

The person who was found positive with the Brazilian strain was isolated and has not infected others, says the doctor, adding that the existing vaccines will most likely be effective against this strain.

New sequencing method

There are many different Covid-19 strains in the Faroes but none of them are more harmful or more contagious than the original strain. The UK and the South African strains are the ones we should be wary of:

“The UK strain is spreading quickly in countries around us. Within a month, this will be the dominant strain in Denmark, and that means it will most likely make its way to the Faroes too,” he says.

“We are slightly concerned but we are well prepared.”

From today it will be possible to determine almost immediately whether a positive Covid-19 test sample contains the UK or the South African strains.

For further information about Covid-19 in the Faroes, visit corona.fo.

Read the Faroese version of this article here

Translated by prosa.fo

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