Coronavirus: a British strain travels through Europe and carries …

Several European countries announced on Saturday that they had confirmed cases of the British variant, such as Italy, Sweden, Spain and Japan, after those previously reported by France, Germany, Lebanon or Denmark. And now, Canadian health officials have announced the first two cases of the new strain. “The cases are a couple who do not have a history of travel, exposure (to the virus) or high risk contacts,” said the Ontario Ministry of Health. The couple were placed in isolation, the note quoted by the AFP news agency said, the same day Ontario reinstated a multi-week lockdown due to a surge in positive cases.

Madrid health authorities have detected four cases of the new strain of coronavirus discovered in the United Kingdom, confirming the first infections of this variant in Spain. Sweden also reported that it had recorded the first case of infection with the new strain, Swedish Public Health Agency official Sara Byfors reported.

The cases are linked to people who have recently arrived from the UK, Antonio Zapatero, deputy public health minister for the Madrid region, told a press conference. The four citizens have arrived from the UK via Madrid-Barajas airport and three more suspected cases are being investigated for maintaining contact with one of the bright spots, the results of which will be known mid-week next.

“The situation of confirmed patients is not serious, we know that this strain is more transmissible, but it does not cause more seriousness”, therefore “one should not take the news with any kind of nervousness”, Zapatero warned. .

This mutation of the virus, which experts say is more contagious, has led 50 countries, including Spain, to impose travel restrictions to and from the United Kingdom. From Tuesday, from the UK, only Spanish citizens and residents are allowed to enter Spain.

The WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge, reported yesterday via Twitter that this strain is already present in eight countries on the European continent, which he did not specify. For the moment, we know that it is in France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Denmark, a list that Spain is now joining.

Last Monday, the Spanish and Portuguese governments jointly decided to suspend incoming flights from the UK from Tuesday, except for nationals or residents.

The news is known the same day that the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrive in its warehouses in Spain, a day before they begin to be distributed throughout the national territory to be administered in nursing homes.