The Colombian Ministry of Health confirmed on Saturday that a new variant of the novel coronavirus discovered in Brazil is already circulating in the country.

"We confirmed the presence of the P1 strain of COVID-19 from Brazil in a patient from Tabatinga," the ministry said on Twitter.

The ministry explained that the infected person is a 24-year-old woman with dual nationality "who kept herself in home isolation and is already recovered."

On Wednesday, Colombian President Ivan Duque ordered the suspension of commercial flights to and from Brazil for a period of 30 days to prevent the spread of the new variant in the country.

He also ordered that any passenger from Brazil who had entered Colombia since January 18 should go into a 14-day quarantine.

So far, Colombia has registered 2,077,633 cases of COVID-19, with 53,284 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.