Laos has confirmed the presence of the Kappa Covid-19 variant among its cases.
Dr. Sisavath Soutthanilaxay led the briefing by the National Taskforce today, saying that the total number of cases in Laos had now reached 2,176.
Following 1,670 tests conducted over the past 24 hours, Laos has confirmed 32 new cases of Covid-19.
Of the new cases, Vientiane Capital saw three imported cases, while Vientiane Province recorded five new cases of local transmission, including infants and young children.
Meanwhile, Khammouane recorded three imported cases, Savannakhet saw five imported cases, Champasack recorded 15 imported cases, while Salavanh saw one new imported case.
Dr. Sisavath said the new cases in Vientiane Capital were Lao laborers returning from work in Thailand.
He said that the outbreak in neighboring countries is likely to continue for some time because of the spread of the Delta variant, which is more transmissible than other strains of Covid-19.
He said that Laos has detected four strains of Covid-19, including the original strain, as well as the Alpha, Delta, and most recently Kappa.
