UK variant represents 48% of cases in Portugal The variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in the United Kingdom has been found to be responsible for almost half of the cases of covid-19 in Portugal, when in early January it represented just 8% of infections, according to the Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA). "As of February 16 [Tuesday], we estimate that this variant represents around 48% of all covid-19 cases in Portugal," João Paulo Gomes, INSA researcher and coordinator of the study on diversity, told Lusa genetics of the new coronavirus in Portugal. According to INSA data, the incidence in the country of this variant of the virus that causes covid-19, considered more contagious, has been growing since the beginning of the year, registering a constant increase over several weeks, in the period in which the highest number of infections was registered in Portugal.