Colombia Reports two Infections of Brazilian Coronavirus Variant

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Two Colombian citizens in Leticia, capital of the country’s Amazonas province, have been infected with the Brazilian variant of coronavirus, the National Health Institute (INS) said on Sunday.

“The National Health Institute confirmed yesterday afternoon infections in a man and a woman – both with Colombian nationality – with the Brazilian P1 strain,” the INS said in a statement.

The woman, aged 39, is a resident of Leticia. She presented symptoms on Jan. 10 and was diagnosed as positive for coronavirus five days later, the INS said.

The second case was confirmed in an indigenous man, aged 79, who was hospitalized on Jan. 7 with an acute respiratory infection caused by COVID-19, the statement added.

Manaus, a city in Brazil’s Amazonas state, which borders southern Colombia, is currently experiencing a brutal second wave of COVID-19 cases, driven by the new Brazilian variant.

Owing to concerns over the transmissibility of the Brazilian variant, Colombia has ordered the suspension of passenger flights to and from Brazil for a month. It has also suspended domestic flights to and from Leticia for two weeks.

Colombia has so far reported just under 2.1 million coronavirus infections, as well as 53,983 deaths from COVID-19, the disease the virus causes.