Over 1,000 cases of the new variant have been discovered in the UK.
The new Covid-19 variant discovered in Britain has not been detected in Ireland, according to a NPHET expert.
Dr Cillian De Gascun, who's also the director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, says that's based on all available data.
1,000 cases of the fast-spreading variant of the virus have been detected in the UK.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday told the House of Commons that a new variant of coronavirus had been identified in England.
"Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants," he warned.
"We've currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant predominantly in the south of England although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas."
Today, Dr De Gascun revealed on Twitter that "based on the available sequence data, the novel SarsCoV2 UK variant has not been detected" in the Republic of Ireland to date.
Based on the available sequence data @nvrlucdireland the novel #SARSCoV2 ?#UK #variant has not been detected in #Ireland?? (ROI) to date. With thanks to colleagues @firefoxx66 @nextstrain @GISAID Highlights importance of #surveillance #HoldFirm #EveryContactCounts #COVID19
— Cillian De Gascun (@CillianDeGascun) December 15, 2020
He said the development highlighted the "importance of surveillance".
Earlier today, British virologist Dr Chris Smith told BBC Breakfast that, despite being spread more quickly, the new variant of coronavirus may not be any "nastier."
"Once it infects you, once it gets in you, it doesn't actually make you any iller," he said.
"That appears to be the pattern at the moment and the other crucial question at the moment is 'is that change sufficient to side step what the vaccine does to protect us?
"For now the answer seems to be no, but that's something we need to watch."
Dr Smith added that the discovery of the new variant reassured him as "it shows the system is working."
