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Cases of New Coronavirus Variant “Mu” Detected in Greece

coronavirus Mu Greece
Groups enjoying Mykonos before coronavirus measures were in effect. Credit: Greek Reporter

Greek health authorities announced on Thursday that at least six cases of the new coronavirus variant Mu were detected in the country.

According to the the National Public Health Organization (EODY), the cases were detected at the Athens’ international airport and the regions of Argolis, Attica and Achaia.

Although the Delta variant is dominant in Greece, the detection of Mu cases is a worrying trend.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday it is monitoring Mu, which was first identified in Colombia in January of 2021.

Mu, known scientifically as B.1.621, has been classified as a “variant of interest,” the global health body stated in its weekly pandemic bulletin.

Mu coronavirus variant may be resistant to vaccines

The WHO said the variant has mutations that indicate a risk of resistance to vaccines and stressed that further studies were needed to better understand it.

It stated in the announcement “Since its first identification in Colombia in January 2021, there have been a few sporadic reports of cases of the Mu variant and some larger outbreaks have been reported from other countries in South America and in Europe.

“Although the global prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced cases has declined and is currently below 0.1%, the prevalence in Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%) has consistently increased.

“The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes.

“The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape,” the bulletin said.

Greece confirms 33 coronavirus deaths on Thursday

Overall, Greece confirmed 2,840 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, with 10 of these identified at entry points to the country, EODY said.

Since the pandemic began, Greece has confirmed 593,668 infections. In the confirmed cases of the last 7 days, 173 infections are related to travel from abroad and 1,456 to other confirmed cases.

There are also 33 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of pandemic victims to 13,777. Of these, 95.3 percent had an underlying condition and/or were aged 70 or over.

A total of 362 patients are on ventilators in hospitals. Their median age is 64 years and 83.4 percent have an underlying condition and/or are aged 70 or over. Of the 362 patients, 332 (91.71 percent) are unvaccinated or partly vaccinated and 30 (8.29 percent) are fully vaccinated.

Another 2,988 have been discharged from ICUs since the pandemic began.

In addition, 232 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital in the last 24 hours. The average admission of patients with Covid-19 to hospitals over the last 7 days was 252.

The median age of new infections is 39 years, while the median age of the deceased is 78 (range: 0.2 to 106 years).

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