{"id":234964,"date":"2021-04-24T23:14:02","date_gmt":"2021-04-24T20:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/indian-covid-variant-found-in-switzerland-health-authority\/"},"modified":"2021-04-24T23:14:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-24T20:14:02","slug":"indian-covid-variant-found-in-switzerland-health-authority","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/indian-covid-variant-found-in-switzerland-health-authority\/","title":{"rendered":"#Indian COVID variant found in Switzerland: health authority"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Indian COVID variant found in Switzerland: health authority<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n A colorized scanning electron micrograph of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Credit: NIAID
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A first case of the COVID-19 variant contributing to the exploding outbreak in India has been detected in Switzerland, the public health authority said Saturday.\n <\/p>\n

“The first case of the Indian variant of COVID-19 has been discovered in Switzerland,” Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) said in a tweet.<\/p>\n

The virus variant was found in “a passenger who arrived in Switzerland after transiting through a European airport.”<\/p>\n

“The person changed flights in a European country before flying on to Switzerland,” spokesman Daniel Dauwalder told AFP in an email, adding that the positive sample was collected in March in the northern canton of Solothurn.<\/p>\n

The news<\/a> comes after Belgian authorities on Thursday said a group of 20 Indian nursing students who arrived from Paris had tested positive for the variant in the country.<\/p>\n

India’s healthcare system is meanwhile buckling under a new wave of infections blamed in part on the new “double mutant” variant, known as B.1.617.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, India reported a record daily number of cases and deaths from COVID-19, while the government is struggling to provide enough oxygen to overwhelmed hospitals.<\/p>\n

A total of almost 190,000 people have died of coronavirus in India according to official figures.<\/p>\n

Countries have been on high alert for the variant, with several suspending flights from India.<\/p>\n

The BAG said it was discussing whether to add India to its red list of high risk countries.<\/p>\n

People arriving from countries placed on Switzerland’s red list are required to quarantine for 10 days.<\/p>\n

But Dauwalder pointed out that India already figured on a separate list held by the State Secretariat for Migration, which meant that for now, in most cases only Swiss citizens and residents were permitted to enter Switzerland after a stay in India.\n <\/p>\n\n

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Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n \u00a9 2021 AFP<\/p>\n

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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Indian COVID variant found in Switzerland: health authority (2021, April 24)
\n retrieved 24 April 2021
\n from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/news\/2021-04-indian-covid-variant-switzerland-health.html<\/p>\n

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