Four Covid cases associated with Mu variant identified in Ireland

The variant is still classed as being “of interest” as opposed to “variants of concern” such as the Delta and Alpha variants.

Four cases of a new Covid-19 variant have been identified in Ireland.

The Mu variant, named B.1.621, was first designated as a variant of interest by the World Health Organisation (WHO) earlier this week.

A summary of Covid variants in Ireland published Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) revealed the news on Friday.

The variant is still classed as being “of interest” as opposed to “variants of concern” such as the Delta and Alpha variants.

Two of the four cases are associated with a sublineage of the Mu variant.

The Covid strain was first identified in Colombia and is being monitored by the WHO.

The WHO’s weekly bulletin on the pandemic said the variant has mutations suggesting it could be more resistant to vaccines, as was the case with Beta, but that more studies would be needed to examine this further.

It said: “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.”

Meanwhile, the Alpha and Delta variants are still the most common in Ireland.

According to the HSPC, 98% of recent cases have been associated with the Delta variant.

It comes as 1,414 new cases of the virus were recorded by health officials on Friday night.

Some 353 Covid-19 patients were in hospital, of which 55 are in ICUs.

- Additional reporting from PA