Several Countries Including India, France, Japan Have Already Reported COVID Linked To UK Strain
France has become the latest country to report its first case of the new COVID-19 variant. The French health ministry said a Frenchman who had been living in England and returned to France tested positive for the new variant in the central French city of Tours. Japan which announced its first cases Friday.
The United Kingdom is currently left in a state of isolation, as many countries across the world have suspended all modes of travel from and to the country, after a new, more infectious strain of COVID-19 was reported there.
However, there is an argument that the restrictions may have come a little too late and the new strain of the virus may have silently spread across the world.
BCCL
France has become the latest country to report its first case of the new COVID-19 variant.
The French health ministry said a Frenchman who had been living in England and returned to France tested positive for the new variant in the central French city of Tours. It said the man had no symptoms and was isolating in his home.
Reuters
Some other countries have also reported cases of the new variant, including Japan, which announced its first cases Friday. Japan¡¯s health ministry said five people who arrived between Dec. 18 and Dec. 21 tested positive for coronavirus.
In India too, several people who had returned from the UK recently had tested positive for COVID-19 and many are said to the infected by the new variant of the virus.
While samples of others have been sent to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) for analysis.
British authorities have said the new coronavirus variant appears more contagious and may have led to a spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths, though the new variant is not yet proven to be deadlier than the others.
Reuters
There is also a fear that the new strain that was first reported earlier this month in Southern England become the dominant strain.
In India, there is also a fear that the new virus could be spreading locally as several states have reported that many recent UK returnees are untraceable.
BCCL
After a new variant of coronavirus was detected in the UK, the Union government had instructed the authorities to trace the passengers who arrived in India from that country between November 25 and December 23.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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