Covid-19 in Bulgaria: Omicron variant found in 613 of 679 samples sequenced by NCIPD
Bulgaria’s National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases (NCIPD) said on February 16 that it has found the Omicron coronavirus strain in 613 out of 679 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 17 to January 30 and came from 24 out of Bulgaria’s 28 districts.
The Omicron strain accounted for 90.3 per cent of the latest group of samples sequenced by NCIPD, up from 78.2 per cent in the previous batch announced by NCIPD last week.
Among the patients with the Omicron strain, 523 were undergoing treatment at home, 39 were in hospital, 46 had recovered and five had died, as of February 1-7, the NCIPD statement said.
Of the 66 patients with the Delta strain or its subvariants, 42 were undergoing home treatment, 15 were in hospital, six had recovered and three had died, as of February 1-7.
NCIPD said that among the Omicron cases, the BA.1 subvariant was the dominant one, identified in 317 cases, followed by the BA.1.1 subvariant with 224 cases and 14 cases of the BA.2 subvariant.
Among the samples that showed the Delta strain of the virus, the AY.43 subvariant was found in 16 cases, AY.4 in 12 cases and AY.4.2.1 in eight cases. Fifteen other Delta subvariants accounted for the remaining 30 samples sequenced by NCIPD.
The largest number of samples, including both the Omicron and Delta strains, came from the city of Sofia (173), followed by the districts of Plovdiv (128), Pazardzhik (54), Varna (49), Stara Zagora (48) and Rousse (45).
(Photo: Military Medical Academy)
For the rest of The Sofia Globe’s continuing coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria, please click here.
The Sofia Globe’s coverage of the Covid-19 situation in Bulgaria is supported by the Embassies of Switzerland and Finland.
Please support independent journalism by clicking on the orange button below. For as little as three euro a month or the equivalent in other currencies, you can support The Sofia Globe via patreon.com and get access to exclusive subscriber-only content:
