for specific variants can be used as a proxy test for Alpha — or as a supplementing first-screening test before conducting the
whole-genome sequencing. As of 16 March, it had become the
dominant COVID-19 variant for 21 countries: United Kingdom (week 52), Ireland (week 2), Bulgaria (week 4), Slovakia (week 5), Israel (week 5), Luxembourg (week 5), Portugal (week 6), Denmark (week 7), Netherlands (week 7), Norway (week 7), Italy (week 7), Belgium (week 7), France (week 8), Austria (week 8), Switzerland (week 8), Liechtenstein (week 9), Germany (week 9), Sweden (week 9), Spain (week 9), Malta (week 10) and Poland (week 11). The emergence and the fast spreading of the new variant has been detected in Lebanon and a relationship noted between SARS-CoV-2 transmission intensity and the frequency of the new variant during the first twelve days of January. By February, Alpha became the dominant variant in Lebanon.
Spread in UK The first case was likely in mid-September 2020 in London or
Kent, United Kingdom. The variant was sequenced in September. As of 13 December 2020, 1,108 cases with this variant had been identified in the UK in nearly 60 different local authorities. These cases were predominantly in the
south east of England. The variant has also been identified in Wales and Scotland. By November, around a quarter of cases in the
COVID-19 pandemic in London were being caused by the new variant, and by December, that was a third. In mid-December, it was estimated that almost 60 percent of cases in London involved Alpha. By 25 January 2021, the number of confirmed and probable UK cases had grown to 28,122.
Spread in Europe The variant became dominant for: •
South East England in week 48, the last week of November 2020. first found the variant nationwide in 74% of cases on 3 February (week 5), followed by 72% of cases on 15 February (week 7), and it then grew to 90% of cases on 3 March (week 9). The same test found earlier on 8 January prevalence of the variant at a rate of 36% in the
Michalovce District and 29% in
Nitra. In Israel, the variant was first time detected by genome sequencing 23 December 2020.
Leumit Health Care Services however analysed with the proxy test RT-PCR (SGTF) and found the variant at a rate of 3‑4% on 15 December. In Denmark the variant grew from 0.3% (week 46 of 2020) to become dominant with 65.9% (week 7 of 2021), and it grew further to 92.7% (week 10); with the regional prevalence ranging from 87.3% in the
North Jutland Region to 96.1% in the
Central Denmark Region. The observed growth of the relative variant share, was in full accordance with the earlier modelled forecast, In comparison, the genome sequencing only found the competing Beta variant in 0.4% of the positive cases (9 times out of 2315 tests) in week 10. In the Netherlands, a randomly conducted genome sequencing found that the variant grew from 1.3% of cases in week 49 to a dominant share of 61.3% in week 7, followed by 82.0% in week 9; while the competing Beta variant in comparison was found to be at 3.0% in week 9. In Amsterdam, the Alpha variant (lineage B.1.1.7) grew from 5.2% (week 52) to 54.5% (week 6). In Norway, the variant was found by genome sequencing to grow from 5.7% (week 1) into dominance by a 58.4% (week 7), followed by 65.0% (week 8). Another large survey comprising results of both genome sequencing and PCR proxy tests, with a sample seize of more than 1000 tests per week (since week 4), at the same time found that the variant grew from 2.0% (week 48) into dominance by 60.0% (week 7), followed by 72.7% in week 10 - while only 2.2% of cases in comparison were found to be of the Beta variant. The variant regionally had its highest share in the county of
Oslo and
Viken, growing from 18% to 90% of analysed samples in Oslo from 20 January to 23 February (although with the data-corrected estimate a bit lower at 50-70% on 23 February); while growing from 21% to 80% of analysed samples in Viken from 25 January to 23 February (although with the data-corrected estimate a bit lower at 50% on 23 February). For the period 15 February to 14 March, the combined survey of genome sequencing and PCR proxy tests, also found the Alpha variant was at a dominant rate over 50% for 8 out of 11 regions, with its highest rate (82%) found for Oslo; while the region
Nordland was different from all other regions by having only 6% cases of Alpha along with a dominant 88% of cases represented by the Beta variant. followed by a dominant 58.2% in week 6. A national RT-PCR proxy test based on SGTF and SGTL observations, found the variant at a rate of 33.5% in week 4, but observed afterwards a decelerating pace for the weekly rise of the variant share (reason unknown), and according to this study it only became dominant by 50.5% in week 8, followed by 64.3% in week 10. followed by 54.0% on 18 February (week 7). The regional prevalence for week 7 ranged from 0% in
Aosta Valley (although only one sample was tested) to 93.3% in
Molise. In week 7, the competing
Gamma variant had a prevalence of 4.3% (ranging between 0%-36.2% regionally) and the South African variant a prevalence of 0.4% (ranging between 0%-2.9% regionally). In Switzerland, a nationwide weekly genome sequencing survey found that the Alpha variant grew from 0.05% (week 51) to a dominant 58.2% of cases in week 8, followed by 71.1% in week 9. In comparison, the competing Beta variant was only found nationwide in 1.0% of the positive cases in week 9. The variant was first time detected by targeted genome sequencing in week 49, but due to a small sample seize (not being random, and less than 100 tests per week) then no reliable variant share data could be determined before week 1. The proxy test for the variant (RT-PCR SGTF) was also conducted for a sample seize equal to 25.8% of all COVID-19 positive tests, and found a dominant 54.8% SGTF rate for week 10. In comparison, the competing
Beta variant was found to be at 3.6% and the
Gamma variant had a prevalence of 1.8% in week 10. A nationwide survey of randomly selected positive COVID-19 samples first analysed by a RT-PCR screening test and subsequently confirmed by genome sequencing, revealed that the variant grew from a share of 3.3% (388/11916) on 7–8 January (week 1) to 13.3% (475/3561) on 27 January (week 4), followed by 44.3% (273/615) on 16 February (week 7). A new RT-PCR variant specific test was introduced for the surveillance, where the first results reported on 10 March revealed the variant now represented 61% of cases nationwide. In Sweden, the national authorities initially expected the variant would become dominant around week 12–14 under the assumption of 50% increased transmissibility compared to the original virus. In average, the variant share was found growing from 10.8% (week 4) to 36.9% (week 7) across five of its southern regions (
Skåne,
Västra Götaland,
Västmanland,
Gävleborg and
Örebro). For week 7, the share of the variant was for the first time also calculated to 30.4% as the overall average for 19 out of 21
Swedish regions (ranging from 3.3% in
Blekinge to 45% in Gävleborg). For week 9, the share of the variant was calculated to a dominant 56.4% as the overall average for the 19 regions (ranging from 16% in
Kronoberg to 72% in Gävleborg). For week 10, the share of the variant was calculated to have increased further to 71.3% as the overall average for the 19 regions (ranging from 40% in
Kronoberg to 84% in
Jönköping). Although no geographical weights were applied to ensure geographical representativity for the calculated average for the 19 regions, the overall sample seize of 12,417 variant tests represented 43.1% of all COVID-19 positive PCR-tests for week 10, inferring that the result of the survey might be close to represent the actual true average for the nation as a whole. In Spain, the variant share was estimated nationwide to be 5%-10% of cases on 29 January, followed by 20%-25% of cases on 18 February and 25%-30% of cases on 22 February, and estimated to be dominant with over 50% as of 3 March (week 9). As of week 10, the prevalence of the variant ranged from 18.3% to 97.0% for the
17 regions, with all but two regions having a dominant rate above 50%: • No data reported by
Extremadura. • 18.3% for week 10 in
Aragon. • 27.0% for week 7 in
Canary Islands. • 51.3% for week 8 in
Castile and León. • 52.2% for week 10 in
Valencia. • 52.8% for week 10 in
Castilla–La Mancha. • 53.3% for week 4 in
Galicia. • 59.5% for week 9 in
La Rioja. • 59.7% for week 10 in
Madrid. • 61.6% for week 11 in
Andalusia. • 76.1% for week 10 in
Balearic Islands. • 76.7% for week 10 in
Murcia. • 77.4% for week 10 in
Basque Country. • 77.8% for week 10 in
Navarre. • 83.1% for week 10 in
Cantabria. • 84.6% for week 9 in
Catalonia. • 97.0% for week 10 in
Asturias. In Poland, a national survey among infected teachers led to experts estimating that the variant share was between 5% and 10% nationwide as of 11 February, while
ECDC reported it to be 9% as of 15 February. According to Health minister
Adam Niedzielski, the variant was found at a rate of 5% in the first studies from the second half of January, and then it increased by ten percentage points every ten days, until it became dominant nationwide by a 52% rate on 16 March (week 11). Regionally, the variant had already exceeded 70% for
Warmian-Masurian and
Pomeranian on 22–23 February (week 8), and even reached 90% for the
Greater Poland Voivodeship on 17 March (week 11). In Finland, no statistical representative national survey had been conducted as of February 2021, as the national genome sequencing mainly targeted further analysis of COVID-19 positive samples from travellers and local outbreak clusters. Helsinky University Hospital (HUS), operating in the
Helsinki and Uusimaa Hospital District, found the variant in 10% of all samples collected randomly during a few days ahead of 14 February in the capitol region (also known as the
Helsinky constituency and Uusimaa constituency). For the capitol region, the variant was modelled to become dominant (over 50%) in the second half of March (week 11-13). In
Iceland, the national authorities implemented a strict 3 test and quarantine regime for all persons entering the country from abroad, that so far successfully managed to prevent new infectious VOCs from gaining a foothold in the country. As of 4 March, a total of 90 travellers had tested positive for the Alpha variant at Iceland's borders and the 20 additional domestic cases were all closely connected to the border cases, with no cases related to community transmission.
Spread in North America In the United States, the variant first appeared late November 2020, grew from 1.2% in late January and became predominant around the end of March. The spread of the variant was primarily concentrated in the upper
Midwest of the country, especially the states of
Michigan and
Minnesota, but it failed to spread in high concentrations to other parts of the country. In Canada, the variant first appeared in
Ontario late December 2020. By 13 February, it had spread to all ten provinces. Testing and confirmation of the Alpha variant (lineage B.1.1.7) in COVID-19-positive samples has been inconsistent across the country. On 3 February, the province of
Alberta was the first to screen all COVID-19 positive samples for variants of concern. As of 23 March, the Alpha variant had been detected in 5812 cases, and was most prevalent in the province of
Alberta. In Ontario, a combined RT-PCR (N501Y) and genome sequencing study found that all VOCs represented 4.4% of all COVID-19 positives on 20 January (week 3), and that Alpha comprised 99% of all those VOCs.
Public Health Ontario laboratories found the variant in close to 7% of all COVID-19 positives in week 5, representing 97% (309/319) of all detected VOCs. Alpha became the dominant variant on or around 16 March; 53% of all positive cases were VOCs, and it was presumed 97% of VOCs were Alpha. In
Quebec, where the variant was also widespread, it was expected to become dominant by late March or in April.
Development 50%--> The following additional countries did not report variant shares, but are likely to have a significant share present due to their finding of more than 50 cases confirmed by
whole genome sequencing per 13 March 2021: •
Turkey (486 cases) •
Finland (268 cases) •
Australia (140 cases) •
Chile (124 cases) •
Croatia (121 cases) •
Nigeria (113 cases) •
South Korea (90 cases) •
Slovenia (87 cases) •
Latvia (83 cases) •
India (81 cases) •
Romania (76 cases) •
Ghana (67 cases) •
Singapore (66 cases) •
New Zealand (63 cases) •
North Macedonia (53 cases) •
Brazil (53 cases) •
Taiwan (32 cases) The
GISAID database of all sequenced COVID-19 genomes, calculates for each country for the past four weeks an average "Relative Variant Genome Frequency" for submitted samples. Those observed frequencies are however subject to sampling and reporting biases, and do not represent exact variant share prevalence due to absence of statistical representativity. the
Netherlands,
Australia and
Italy. Shortly after, several other countries confirmed their first cases, the first of whom were found in
Iceland and
Gibraltar, then
Singapore,
Israel and
Northern Ireland on 23 December,
Germany and
Switzerland on 24 December, and the
Republic of Ireland and
Japan confirmed on 25 December. The first cases in
Canada,
France,
Lebanon,
Spain and
Sweden were reported on 26 December.
Jordan,
Norway, and
Portugal reported their first case on 27 December,
Finland and
South Korea reported their first cases on 28 December, and
Chile,
India,
Pakistan and the
United Arab Emirates reported their first cases on 29 December. The first case of new variant in
Malta and
Taiwan are reported on 30 December.
China and
Brazil reported their first cases of the new variant on 31 December. The
United Kingdom and
Denmark are sequencing their SARS-CoV-2 cases at considerably higher rates than most others, and it was considered likely that additional countries would detect the variant later. The
United States reported a case in
Colorado with no travel history on 29 December, the sample was taken on 24 December. On 6 January 2021, the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it had found at least 52 confirmed cases in
California,
Florida, Colorado,
Georgia, and
New York. In the following days, more cases of the variant were reported in other states, leading former CDC director
Tom Frieden to express his concerns that the U.S. will soon face "close to a worst-case scenario".
January 2021 Turkey detected its first cases in 15 people from England on 1 January 2021. It was reported on 1 January that Denmark had found a total of 86 cases of the variant, equalling an overall frequency of less than 1% of the sequenced cases in the period from its first detection in the country in mid-November to the end of December; this had increased to 1.6% of sequenced tests in the period from mid-November to week two of 2021, with 7% of sequenced tests in this week alone being of Alpha variant (lineage B.1.1.7).
Luxembourg and
Vietnam reported their first case of this variant on 2 January 2021. On 3 January 2021,
Greece and
Jamaica detected their first four cases of this variant and
Cyprus announced that it had detected Alpha (VOC 202012/01) in 12 samples. At the same time,
New Zealand and
Thailand reported their first cases of this variant, where the former reported six cases made up of five from the United Kingdom and one from South Africa, and the latter reported the cases from a family of four who had arrived from Kent.
Georgia reported its first case and
Austria reported their first four cases of this variant, along with one case of
Beta variant, on 4 January. On 5 January,
Iran,
Oman, and
Slovakia reported their first cases of VOC-202012/01. On 8 January,
Romania reported its first case of the variant, an adult woman from
Giurgiu County who declared not having left the country recently. On 9 January,
Peru confirmed its first case of the variant.
Mexico and
Russia reported their first case of this variant on 10 January, then
Malaysia and
Latvia on 11 January. On 12 January,
Ecuador confirmed its first case of this variant. The
Philippines and
Hungary both detected the presence of the variant on 13 January. The
Gambia recorded first cases of the variant on 14 January with it being the first confirmation of the variant's presence in Africa. On 15 January, the
Dominican Republic confirmed its first case of the new variant and
Argentina confirmed its first case of the variant on 16 January.
Czech Republic and
Morocco reported their first cases on 18 January while
Ghana and
Kuwait confirmed their first cases on 19 January.
Nigeria confirmed its first case on 25 January. On 28 January,
Senegal detected its first case of the variant. In early January, an outbreak linked to a primary school led to the detection of at least 30 cases of the new variant in the
Bergschenhoek area of the
Netherlands, signifying local transmission. On 24 January, a person travelling from Africa to
Faroe Islands tested positive upon arrival to the islands, and went directly into quarantine. On 28 January,
North Macedonia confirmed the variant was detected in a 46-year-old man, who had already recovered.
February 2021 On 1 February,
Lithuania confirmed the first cases of the new lineage. On 4 February, health authorities in
Uruguay announced the first case of the variant in the country. The case was detected in a person who entered the country on 20 December 2020 and has been in quarantine ever since. On 10 February, the Health Ministry of
Croatia confirmed that out of 61 sequenced samples since 20 January, the variant was detected in 3 samples: a male 50 year old and 3.5 year old from
Zagreb, and a male 34-year-old from Brod-Posavina County. On 12 February, the variant was detected from four areas in Sri Lanka, and the Canadian province of
Newfoundland and Labrador confirmed an outbreak of the variant.
March 2021 On 2 March,
Indonesia reports its first cases of the variant in two migrant workers returning from Saudi Arabia. On the same day,
Tunisia reported their first cases of the variant. The presence of the variant in
Ivory Coast was confirmed on 25 March.
N501Y mutation elsewhere The N501Y mutation arose independently multiple times in different locations: • In April 2020, it was seen for the first time in a few isolated sequences in
Brazil. • In June 2020, the mutation appeared in an
Australian lineage.
Phylogeographic analysis suggests this lineage emerged already in July or August 2020. • In December 2020, another highly transmissible variant termed lineage P.1 (501Y.V3,
Gamma variant) was detected in
Manaus (Brazil). == Statistics ==