Covid-19 in Bulgaria: Omicron variant found in 129 of 234 samples sequenced by NCIPD
Bulgaria’s National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD) said on January 25 that it has found the Omicron coronavirus strain in 129 out of 234 samples taken from Covid-19 patients in the country, with the rest identified as having the Delta strain or its sub-variants.
The samples had been taken over a period of time ranging from January 3 to January 13 and came from 21 out of Bulgaria’s 28 districts.
The Omicron strain, accounting for 55.1 per cent of the latest batch sequenced by NCIPD – up from 43.5 per cent last week – was found in samples taken from 14 districts, compared to 18 districts in the previous announcement made by NCIPD on January 18.
Among the patients with the Omicron strain, 120 were undergoing treatment at home, four were in hospital and 1 had recovered, as of January 10-18, the NCIPD statement said, leaving the status of four other individuals unclear.
Of the 105 patients with the Delta strain or its subvariants, 75 were undergoing home treatment, 19 were in hospital, three had recovered and eight had died, as of January 10-18.
NCIPD said that 14 out of 105 cases showed the Delta strain of the virus, collectively designated B.1.617.2 by the World Health Organisation.
The other cases were attributed to separate individual lineages of that variant, with the most numerous being AY.4.2 (15), AY.43 and AY.4 (14 each). Seventeen other subvariants accounted for the remaining 48 samples sequenced by NCIPD.
The largest number of samples, including both the Omicron and Delta strains, came from the city of Sofia (63), followed by the districts of Plovdiv (33), Stara Zagora (18), Blagoevgrad (15) and Pazardzhik (14).
(Photo: Military Medical Academy)
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