Patient detected in Italy with COVID-19 strain found in UK

by

A patient in Italy was found to be infected with the more contagious species COVID-19 recently discovered in the UK, the Italian Ministry of Health announced on Sunday.

The Ministry of Health said the patient and his partner have returned to Italy from the UK in recent days on a flight landing at Rome’s Fiumicino airport. The couple is currently isolated, Reuters reported.

The patient’s contraction of the new strain is because at least six countries have temporarily suspended travel to the UK, barring official exceptions after British officials reported the new strain appearing to be more contagious.

Austria, Belgium, Germany, Israel, Italy and the Netherlands suspensions set on flights to the UK on Sunday amid the rise in cases in the country and the discovery of the more communicable strain.

Italy has banned entry to anyone who was in the UK in the past 14 days, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

But former Surgeon General Vivek MurthyVivek MurthySunday Shows Preview: US Rolls Out First Doses of Coronavirus Vaccine; Congress closes stimulus deal Asian lawmakers set sights on Biden’s Labor secretary Manchin says bipartisan coronavirus bill will be revealed Monday MORE, who has been nominated to retake the position under President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenCHC Urges Biden to Elect Latinos as Head of Education Department, SBA: Louisiana Rep.-elect Report Hospitalized as Precautionary Measure for COVID-19 Infection Biden and Netanyahu May Carefully Maintain US-Israeli Ties MORE, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the newly discovered species in the UK does not appear more deadly.

“While it appears more transmissible, we have no evidence yet that this is a more deadly virus to a person who acquires it,” he said, adding that there is no evidence that the coronavirus vaccines would be any less effective against this species.

Italy was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year, registering nearly 2 million cases and 68,799 fatalities, the fifth highest death toll in any country since it began, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The UK has documented just over 2 million cases and 67,503 deaths, the sixth most cases and deaths of any country.

.Source