PARIS – The first case of a particularly infectious coronavirus variant that recently emerged in Britain has been confirmed in France, said the Health Ministry yesterday.
The patient – a French citizen living in Britain – is asymptomatic and self-isolating at home in Tours, in central France.
The individual arrived from London on December 19, and was tested in hospital on December 21 and found to be positive for the Covid-19 strain known as VOC 202012/01.
“Health authorities have carried out contact-tracing for health professionals taking care of the patient,” said the ministry in a statement.
Any of their contacts seen as vulnerable will similarly be isolated, it added.
In addition to this first case, “to date, several positive samples that may suggest the VOC 202012/01 variant are being sequenced” by the specialist laboratories of the national Pasteur Institute. – AFP, December 26, 2020
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