Albanian Minister of Health Ogerta Manastirliu has stated that there are no confirmed cases of mutated COVID-19 infections in Albania.
During a press conference today, she said that the Institute of Public Health constantly sends samples abroad for testing, but so far, none have been positive. This is because Albanian labs are unable to specifically identify new strains of the virus.
She said:
“So far, we have not identified cases of new variants of COVID-19 but work is ongoing.”
A few days ago, Head of Epidemiology at IPH, Silva Bino said there were at least two people in Elbasan, suspected of being infected with new variants. While Albanian labs can tell if a strain is different, they cannot ascertain which it is. Instead, Albania sends samples abroad where they are tested in competent laboratories.
So far, the British strain of the virus has been found in Kosovo and North Macedonia.
