Serbian President Warns Against Panic As 1st Case Of UK-Linked COVID-19 Strain Confirmed

BELGRADE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2021) President Aleksandar Vucic on Sunday called on Serbian nationals to avoid panic over a new UK strain of COVID-19 after a Serbian woman was confirmed to have the infection upon arrival from London.

Prominent Serbian epidemiologist and crisis staff member Branislav Tiodorovic earlier said that it was a matter of time when new strains of the coronavirus would appear in Serbia, adding that the UK strain had already appeared in the Western Balkans.

"The new strain of coronavirus has penetrated into Serbia, it was detected in a Serbian citizen who had arrived from London to Belgrade. The new strain is frightening because of a big number of those infected in the UK, but there is no place for panic, because all contacts of the traveler from the UK have been isolated," Vucic said as aired by tv Prva.

According to the president, the infected person had a negative PCR test upon her arrival from the UK but she showed mild symptoms later, while her husband's disease is more severe.

The mutant strain was detected by UK health authorities in mid-December, prompting the government to impose a new lockdown and many other countries to close the borders with the United Kingdom. Early evidence suggests that the UK variant, in particular, could be more deadly than the common strains.