Coronavirus variants spreading in Sweden

Mutated coronavirus variants have now been found in 20 of Sweden's 21 counties, reported Xinhua, quoting Swedish Television SVT News on Tuesday.

According to the Public Health Agency, 423 cases had been recorded by last week. However, the full extent of the problem is unknown as only a small portion of positive tests is sequenced to distinguish the new COVID-19 strains.

Meanwhile, random checks conducted in four counties in the first week of February revealed that the mutation first discovered in the United Kingdom (UK) -- which is more contagious -- was responsible for 9-20 percent of infections.

One of the counties where this mutation seems to be most prevalent is Gavleborg on the Baltic Sea coast, SVT News reported.

On Thursday, 99 infections were reported in the county, but by late Friday this figure had jumped to 160, the county's infection control physician Shah Jalal told SVT News.

Although it is still too early to draw conclusions, there are signs that the number of new infections is increasing in Gavleborg.

A small number of cases related to the COVID-19 mutation first discovered in South Africa has also been recorded in Sweden, but there are no known infections connected to the mutation first discovered in Brazil.

On Monday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published its latest risk assessment, highlighting the dangers these mutations pose.

According to the report, the mutation first identified in the UK has become the dominant strain in Ireland. Cases linked to the mutation first discovered in South Africa have also been on the increase in the European Economic Area (EEA), while only relatively few cases of the variant first detected in Brazil have been reported to date.

As the new variants become more widespread, COVID-19 may become harder to control, the ECDC warned.