Russia recorded its first cases of the COVID-19 variant, first found in India, the Kommersant newspaper reported Thursday, citing authorities in the Ulyanovsk region.
The regional department of the consumer health authority Rospotrebnadzor said it had registered 16 cases of the variant among Indian students at Ulyanovsk State University, about 700 kilometers east of Moscow.
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Dilyar Khakimov, a watchdog officer, told Kommersant that the students had been put into self-isolation and were under medical observation.
Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova had previously stated that the country had not registered any cases of the variant.
The World Health Organization announced on Monday that the variant of the coronavirus first identified in India last year has been classified as a variant of global concern. Some preliminary studies showed that it spreads more easily.
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India is in a deep crisis due to the current wave of COVID-19 infections. Around 350,000 cases and 4,000 deaths are reported every day.