OREANDA-NEWS. The first case of the Delta coronavirus strain was detected in a person who arrived in Slovakia from Russia, Jan Mikas, the head of the republic's hygiene department, told reporters on Wednesday.

"The Delta coronavirus strain was found in a person who arrived in Slovakia from Russia. He is currently in home quarantine. It is believed that this person may have become infected while attending a European championship football match in St. Petersburg. This is the first time this strain has been detected in Slovakia," Mikas said.

According to the Ministry of Health, on Tuesday, 4.3 thousand PCR tests were carried out in the country for the presence of coronavirus, 35 of them tested positive. 230 people were hospitalized, of which 17 are in intensive care, and 13 are connected to mechanical ventilation. Not a single person died of coronavirus that day. In general, during the pandemic, 12.5 thousand people died in the republic.

The first vaccination against coronavirus in the 5 millionth Slovakia was received by 1.9 million people, the second - 1.4 million people.

Experts say that the Indian strain is characterized by a set of mutations that affect a significant functional region of the S-protein. This allows the new variant of the coronavirus to partially evade the action of antibodies in both people who have previously undergone covid and those who are vaccinated. And this feature makes the delta variant the most unfavorable of all those included by WHO in the group of coronavirus strains requiring special attention (it also includes the British, Brazilian and South African variants).

Another feature of the Indian strain is the speed of its transmission from person to person. The virus has become more "tenacious", in addition, its incubation period has decreased. That is why there is an explosive increase in the incidence in several countries at once.