COVID-19 outbreak at Swedish university linked to S. African variant

Student parties held at a Swedish university have been suspected behind a COVID-19 outbreak linked to the virus strain first discovered in South Africa. On Monday, the local authorities urged students to be vigilant, stressing that the situation was precarious, reported Xinhua.

Since the B.1.351 strain was first confirmed among students at Uppsala University two weeks ago, a further 18 cases suspected to have been caused by the same strain have been discovered.

"We believe this could be the tip of an iceberg, and we take it very seriously. If we do not stop this outbreak, we risk a dramatic increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in Uppsala," the region's infection control physician Johan Nojd warned in a press release.

Mats Martinell, medical manager at the university city's sampling unit, said student parties had accelerated the spread of infection.

"We believe that we may be dealing with super-spreader environments, where people have participated in several parties and social contexts in a phase when they have been contagious. Therefore, we do not have full control of everyone who may have been exposed to infection," he was quoted in the press release.

In an interview with the daily Dagens Nyheter, he said contact tracing was intensified Friday after six out of seven girls who had attended the same informal party in a student housing area were confirmed infected.

"We have worked all weekend to trace infections. We have concluded that there have been quite a few parties in this area," he said.

Last week, more than 12,000 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) samples --the highest number since the pandemic began -- were taken for COVID-19 in the city of 233,000 inhabitants. This week, sampling stations will be further strengthened so that more students can be tested.

Students who test positive are contacted and instructed to put themselves in isolation. People who have been in their vicinity are also asked to stay at home even if they do not have symptoms.

"Of course, everyone should be careful, whether they study or not," Martinell said in the press release. "We are currently seeing an increase in the number of cases in the group of young adults. The virus does not take into account what employment you have, so now it is important for everyone to stay vigilant."