Seven die after outbreak of Colombian variant of COVID-19 at Belgian nursing home

The seven people who died at the nursing home in the Belgian town of Zaventem, near Brussels, were all in their 80s or 90s, and some of them were already in a poor physical condition, said Marc Van Ranst, a virologist at the University of Leuven which conducted tests on the strain found at the nursing home. “It is worrisome,” Van Ranst said, commenting on the fact that the residents died despite being fully vaccinated against COVID-19. So far, scientists do not know if the Colombian variant is more transmissible than other variants, he said.