The Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to be dominant in all regions of the country, being already responsible for all cases of infections in the Algarve and in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo.
According to the report by the National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) released today, this variant, associated with India and considered more transmissible, has a prevalence of 86,6% in Portugal, while Alpha, initially identified in the United Kingdom, only it was responsible for 10,2% of infections in the week of June 28th to July 4th.
The INSA further states that the Delta variant already has a prevalence of 100% in the Algarve and Lisbon and Vale do Tejo regions, 95% in the Alentejo, 88,2% in the North, 81,8% in the Center, from 79,2 .62,5% in Madeira and XNUMX% in the Azores.
"Among other variants of interest in circulation in Portugal, the variant/lineage B.1.621 stands out, initially detected in Colombia, which has shown a relative frequency of around 1% in recent weeks," says the study on diversity genetics of the new coronavirus in Portugal.
According to the document, this "variant of interest" has several mutations in the protein spike, which are shared with some “concern variants”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies the virus variants as “concern” (VOC) or “interested” (VOI), having assigned, at the end of May, the designation of letters of the Greek alphabet to facilitate understanding.
In the VOC category are Alpha, initially detected in the UK in December 2020, Beta, associated with South Africa since December 2020, Gamma, identified in Brazil in January 2021, and Delta, originating in India and classified as of concern in May this year.
The INSA report also indicates that the relative frequency of Beta and Gamma variants, initially associated with South Africa and Brazil, respectively, remains low and without a growing trend, being less than 1% in the latest national samplings.
In addition, no new cases of the Lambda variant were detected, which has marked circulation in regions of Peru and Chile, according to the institute.
As part of the study started in April 2020, on the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2, 11.386 sequences of the genome of the new coronavirus were analyzed, obtained from samples collected in more than 100 laboratories, hospitals and institutions, representing 290 municipalities in Portugal.
In June, the institute announced a strengthening of the surveillance of the variants of the virus that causes Covid-19 in circulation in Portugal, through its continuous monitoring.
This new strategy allows for a better genetic characterization of SARS-CoV-2, since the data will be analyzed continuously, and there will no longer be time intervals between analyses, which were essentially dedicated to specific studies of genetic characterization requested by public health.
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