Paris, France
A first case of the new strain of covid-19 emerging in the UK was discovered this Friday in the city of Tours, in central France, announced the French Ministry of Health.
The first confirmed positive in France of the new variant of the virus is a Frenchman living in the UK who is asymptomatic, the ministry said in a statement, specifying that the infected person had been quarantined.
After arriving from London on December 19 (…), he received medical attention in a hospital and tested positive on the 21st, ‘the ministry said, assuring him that he was the’ first to be infected with the variant. VOC 202012/01“on French territory.
As foreseen in the protocol launched after the discovery of this species, possibly more contagious, in the South East of the United Kingdom, a “sequencing” of the virus carried by this patient was requested from the National Reference Center for Respiratory Infections Viruses. The latter confirmed the contamination with variant VOC 202012/01 on Friday.
“Health officials began looking for medical professionals who would care for the patient and the people he was in contact with so that they are strictly isolated,” the statement said.
In addition to this case, “several positive samples possibly due to the variant VOC 202012/01 are being sequenced by the laboratories” of the National Reference Center so far, the ministry added.