MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. The number of recorded cases of the British variant of COVID-19 has increased to 128, while there are now 16 documented cases of the South African strain, head of the Russian consumer watchdog Anna Popova told a briefing Monday.

"As of April 9, we tested more than 9,000 samples and detected 193 mutated variants. Currently, there are 128 cases of the British strain against 101 cases a week ago. The infection is primarily imported from Turkey and Tanzania. The 16 cases of the South African strain are also [imported] from Turkey, Tanzania and South Africa," she said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a COVID-19 strain codenamed VOC-202012/01 emerged in the UK last September. The 501Y.V2 variant has been present in South Africa since early August, while P.1 mutation has been circulating in Brazil and Japan since December.

According to the latest statistics, more than 136.1 million people have been infected worldwide and more than 2,900,000 deaths have been reported. To date, 4,649,710 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 4,272,165 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 103,263 fatalities nationwide. The Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.