While at least twenty cases of the British variant of Sars-Cov-2 have been identified in Corsica, the Bastia hospital center is expected to be equipped with reagents to detect the various strains of the virus as early as Monday 8 February.
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To cope with the progression of the Sars-Cov-2 epidemic and its variants and to better monitor their circulation in Corsica, the Bastia hospital center should be equipped as of Monday with reagents to detect mutant strains of the virus.
In the event of a positive result in the PCR test, screening for the different variants (British, Japanese, South African and Brazilian) will be carried out. Initially, the hospital should be able to handle around fifty tests per day, but this capacity could be increased thanks to an increase in cases of contamination.
Until now, positive island PCR tests were processed by two laboratories located in Paris and Lyon.
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Variants, responsible for 14% of contaminations in France
The implementation of this device on the island follows the recent increase in the number of cases of contamination with variants of Sars-Cov-2 on the national territory and in Corsica.
Thus, in its epidemiological bulletin dated January 4, Public Health France revealed the results of a survey which estimated that 14% of the number of patients positive for Covid-19 affected by a mutant strain of the virus.
The British variant, the most common in Corsica, is characterized in particular by a higher transmissibility.
According to the Corsican Regional Health Agency, since the week of January 25, “20 cases of contamination by the VOC 202012/01 variant of SARS-CoV-2 (British variant) have been identified, on the basis of samples sent by two laboratories.”
The presence of these mutant strains had also pushed the authorities to announce last Wednesday the tightening of the conditions of entry on the island territory: from this Saturday February 6, the antigenic tests are thus no longer accepted to go to the island. Isle.
“The RT-PCR test is indeed more reliable and more likely to detect variants of the virus, hence the need to use this screening method.“, had explained the prefecture of Corsica.
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