Public health closely monitoring emergence of new strain as EU prepares to hit ‘emergency brake’

Scientists fear that the new strain could be significantly more transmissible than the dominant Delta variant

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said on social media this morning that a decision to stop flights from the southern African region should be made later today. Picture: RollingNews.ie

Public health officials are closely monitoring developments after the emergence of a new variant of Covid-19 ahead of a crunch meeting next Thursday to decide on further restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus.

The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) met yesterday to consider the latest disease trends. Members heard that while the growth rate of the disease has reduced significantly, the number of cases has plateaued, but not reduced, giving rise to ...