The new strain of SARS-CoV-2, VOC 202012/01, that was announced by the UK authorities, has been detected in Cyprus as well.

A press release by the Ministry of Health says that following the instructions of the European Centre for Infection Prevention and Control on the new strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus, VOC 202012/01, which was first detected in the United Kingdom and then in various European countries, the Ministry of Health proceeded, through the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, to a specialised screening of samples from individuals who had arrived from the United Kingdom and had been diagnosed with the virus.

It adds that all positive samples of people who arrived  from the United Kingdom from the day the UK authorities announced the new mutation (20 of December) and two weeks before that, were sent to the Institute, which said that out of the 19 samples examined from the period 6-20 December 2020, 12 of them had the strain VOC 202012/01.
 
The new strain has higher a viral load and is more easily transmitted.