A first case of the new strain of Covid-19 that surfaced in the UK was discovered this Friday in the town of Tours, in central France, the French Ministry of Health announced.
The first confirmed positive in France of the new variant of the virus is a Frenchman living in the United Kingdom who is asymptomatic, the ministry said in a statement specifying that the infected person had been quarantined in isolation.
After arriving from London on December 19 (…), he received medical attention in a hospital and on the 21st he tested positive, ‘said the ministry, assuring that he was the’ first to be infected with the VOC 202012/01 variant. “on French territory.
Under the terms of the protocol launched after the discovery of this potentially more contagious strain in the South East of the UK, a “sequencing” of the virus carried by this patient has been 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.