THE local authorities have been on the alert for the new strain of COVID-19 discovered only a few days ago in Brazil, and emphasis has been placed on ensuring that there are no illegal border crossings, according to Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony.

“We are very concerned (about the Brazilian strain) and because of its proximity to us, we also must pay attention to that,” the minister said on Friday, during his daily COVID-19 update.

He, however, related that the land border between the two countries, the Takutu Bridge, has been closed for sometime now. Limited travel is allowed on Thursdays where goods are brought to Guyana or taken across to Brazil. This arrangement, Dr. Anthony affirmed, is properly supervised by the authority of both countries.

Travel between the two countries has, nevertheless, presented some issues since it is an expansive border that is difficult to patrol. To address the illegal crossing that may occur, the Health Minister said that there have been increased patrols from the joint services in both countries.

“We don’t want our cases to spike and if it is a variant that is very transmissible, then that can easily see an increase in cases,” Dr. Anthony lamented.

“The health authority in Region Nine has been alerted and they have been on the lookout for any changes in the epidemiological pattern and we have our kits that are up there, samples come out of there regularly and so we are going to pay closer attention to what is going on in the bordering areas,” he said.

He also related that the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), which has a network of 21 laboratories able to detect the COVID variants, has already estimated that the variant might be in a number of South American countries.

Genomic sequencing, a type of genetic analysis, is what is needed to identify and characterise the variants, or strains, of COVID-19. Guyana does have the capacity to conduct this type of genetic analysis but it has engaged the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) on doing so.

In addition to this newer variant in Brazil, other variants of concern have been identified in the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa. According to the BBC, it is not unexpected that new variants have developed since all viruses mutate as they make new copies of themselves to spread and thrive. Not all mutated viruses become more concerning, though.

“One of the characteristics of that (Brazil) variant is that it is more transmittable meaning that you can get it much more easily and that is why we will have to take precautions,” Dr. Anthony said, emphasising the need for persons to continue wearing their masks and maintaining an appropriate social distance.

As of Friday, the UK placed a ban on travellers coming from or passing through Guyana and all other countries in South America, Portugal and Cape Verde amid growing concerns over the new variant of COVID-19 identified in Brazil.

The UK, of itself, is grappling with its own variant which has also proven to be more transmissible. CARPHA flagged the UK and South Africa variants and reported that there is a “very high” risk of Caribbean countries importing these variants. Four cases of the ‘UK variant’ were recently detected in Jamaica.