Over 90% Of COVID-19 Positive Patients In Hospital In Slovakia's Kosice Contract UK Strain

Nine out of 10 patients with COVID-19 in a university hospital in Slovakia's second-largest city of Kosice have contracted the UK coronavirus variant, hospital's spokeswoman Monika Galanova said on Friday

PRAGUE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 05th February, 2021) Nine out of 10 patients with COVID-19 in a university hospital in Slovakia's second-largest city of Kosice have contracted the UK coronavirus variant, hospital's spokeswoman Monika Galanova said on Friday.

First cases of the UK variant in Slovakia were detected in Kosice in early January. All people who are diagnosed with COVID-19 in the city are brought to the university hospital.

"There are now about 300 patients in the hospital. So far, analyses of 119 patients are checked, and the 'British mutation' is confirmed among 91 percent of coronavirus patients. I think that the results of other patients will not lower this figure, it is even more likely to increase," Galanova said at a press conference.

Meanwhile, Martin Paulo, the hospital's director, said that the COVID-19 situation has deteriorated since December.

"In January alone, 207 people died from COVID-19. Every day, 20-30 infected people are admitted, less than 10 percent of beds are still available," Paulo said, adding that he now often sees young people, who are coronavirus-positive, in critical condition.

According to local health workers, the UK variant is 70 percent more transmissible, causes more severe disease and is more fatal than most coronavirus stains.

As of now, Slovakia has confirmed nearly 260,000 COVID-19 cases, including over 234,000 recoveries and 5,050 deaths.

UK public health officials in December announced the emergence of the new more transmissible coronavirus strain. The strain was first discovered in southeast England in September and subsequently spread rapidly throughout the United Kingdom and continental Europe.