Spain and France have detected cases of new varia …

Spain and France have confirmed positive cases of the new variant of the coronavirus on the eve of the start of vaccination campaigns, causing warning fires to ignite on the continent.

Madrid regional government health authorities have detected four cases of the new variant discovered in the UK. These are the first infections of this type in Spain. The four cases They are linked to people who have arrived from the United Kingdom, according to Antonio Zapatero, deputy minister of public health for the Madrid community, during a press conference.

The four citizens arrived from the UK via Madrid-Barajas airport and three other suspected cases are under investigation for maintaining contact with one of the positives, the results of which will be known in the middle of next week.

“The situation of confirmed patients is not serious, we know it’s more transmissible this strain, but does not cause greater severity“So” you shouldn’t take the news with any sort of nervousness, “Zapatero said.

This mutation of the virus, which experts consider more contagious, has prompted some 50 countries, including Spain, to impose travel restrictions with the United Kingdom. As of Tuesday, only Spanish citizens and UK residents are allowed to enter Spain.

The news is known the same day that the first doses of Pfizer vaccine arrive in its warehouses in Spain. It is expected that from this Sunday they will begin to be distributed throughout the country and that vaccination will begin in geriatric residences.

In France, a man residing in England who arrived on December 19, tested positive for the new strain in a control carried out yesterday. The man has not developed symptoms and is isolated at his home in the city of Tours, while his contacts are traced.

Like other European countries, France closed its borders with the United Kingdom at midnight last Sunday for 48 hours, after London reported the appearance of this variant of Covid-19. The border blockade, the largest the UK has with the continent, has caused long queues for trucks and passengers, which still continue on both sides of the Channel, despite the fact that Paris announced the reopening on Wednesday.

The revelation of the French case comes on the eve of the vaccination campaign in Europe. France, which exceeds 2.5 million infections and 62,000 deaths, received this Saturday the first 19,500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, from the pharmacy warehouse in Belgium.

Germany, Italy, Belgium and Denmark are the other countries with positive cases of the new variant. For his part, WHO Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge, reported yesterday via Twitter that this strain is already present in eight countries of the European continent, which he did not identify, and considered that “it is vital to strengthen existing protective measures”.