Ljubljana - The more virulent variants of coronavirus appear not to be very widespread in Slovenia yet. Two labs which conduct genetic sequencing have so far identified 35 cases of the UK variant and not a single case of the South African or Brazilian variant.

Tjaša Žohar Čretnik, the head of the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food, said Wednesday the lab had identified six cases of the UK variant in 1,096 positive tests for which they sequenced the entire coronavirus genome between 1 January and 22 February.

The Microbiology Institute at the Ljubljana Medical Faculty has confirmed 28 while one, a passenger who tested positive for the UK variant in Belgium, was not retested but has been added to the tally.

While the total number of cases remains small, Žohar Čretnik said 21 those who tested positive for the UK variant had not travelled abroad, which indicates local transmission.

Both institutions currently sequence 5-10% of all positive tests, but in western Slovenia, which has seen a surge in cases in the past two weeks, that share will now be raised to 30%.

Overall, the prevalent strain in Slovenia is a variant known as B 1.258.17, which accounts for nearly four in five of all cases. This variant is common around the world.

Žohar Čretnik has however denied the notion that there was some kind of specific Slovenian strain of the virus.

Meanwhile, a part of the medical team at the UKC Maribor department of neurosurgery has reportedly had to go into self-isolation due to a risk of South African variant transmission.

According to unofficial information, a UKC Maribor neurosurgeon tested positive after returning from Namibia. The surgeon had been vaccinated with two doses before embarking on holidays in the African country, reports tabloid Slovenske Novice, quoting an anonymous letter it received.

The surgeon returned to work on Monday without quarantining, only a day after his return home, and surgeries are in the process of being cancelled, the letter reads as quoted by the paper.

The medical centre has confirmed that one of its staff members got infected after already receiving two jabs, a development that is possible as no vaccine ensures 100% efficacy. UKC Maribor refused to disclose any other information, only saying that the hospital was extra careful due to the location from which the employee had returned.

Lea Knez, the head of the UKC Maribor unit for containing hospital-acquired infections, said in a press release that the employee worked at a clinic on the day they returned to work but they were practically not present at their department, so there is business as usual there.

Due to a risk of the South African strain their closest colleagues have been requested to self-isolate and all the patients that had been in contact with the employee will be tested just in case, Knez said, highlighting that all the staff heeded Covid precaution protocols.

Whether the infection in question is indeed the first detected case of that particular highly contagious strain of coronavirus in Slovenia will be confirmed through genomic sequencing in the coming days, Knez added.