Paraná confirmed the first case of the India-originating version of COVID-19 this Wednesday (2). The patient is a 71-year-old female resident of Apukrana Municipality.
So far, Brazil has already recorded nine cases of the new strain: the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Maranho have also reported being infected with the mutation. Health officials are monitoring three other suspected cases. In Rio Grande do Norte, a man suspected of being infected with the variant died this Wednesday.
This case from Paraná may be the first case of an infected person in Brazil without a direct connection to India.
According to the government of Paraná, it was not possible to identify how the elderly woman contracted the Indian version. She lives with her husband and son, who died of COVID-19 complications. Samples will be analyzed for the strain in all and are therefore suspected cases.
The state also registers a third suspected case of strain B.1,617 in a 38-year-old resident of Cascavel. The sample was sent to the Osvaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) and is awaiting genomic sequencing results to confirm the variant.
(Posted by Marina Motomura)
