French Officers Announce First Confirmed Case Of New Coronavirus Variant : NPR

A laboratory technician is pictured dealing with swab samples at a hospital in Mulhouse, France, in November. French officers confirmed the nation’s first case of the brand new coronavirus variant on Friday.

Patrick Hertzog/AFP through Getty Pictures

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Patrick Hertzog/AFP through Getty Pictures

A laboratory technician is pictured dealing with swab samples at a hospital in Mulhouse, France, in November. French officers confirmed the nation’s first case of the brand new coronavirus variant on Friday.

Patrick Hertzog/AFP through Getty Pictures

The extra contagious coronavirus variant sweeping by means of England has formally reached France.

Officers there stated on Friday {that a} French citizen who just lately traveled from London has examined optimistic for the brand new variant.

The French Well being Ministry stated the case was discovered within the metropolis of Excursions, about 150 miles southwest of Paris, in accordance with Reuters. The person, who returned from London on Dec. 19, “felt all proper” and is self-isolating at dwelling.

The prognosis got here after he was examined within the hospital on Dec. 21, the BBC reported.

Viruses sometimes mutate, and scientists are working to find out how a lot of a menace this variant poses. To this point, they are saying it seems extra transmissible and more durable to regulate, although it appears unlikely to trigger extra extreme illness and is probably going to reply to COVID-19 vaccines.

Its discovery has prompted numerous European nations to limit journey from the UK in latest days.

France reopened its borders to eligible vacationers and truck drivers from the U.Ok. on Wednesday, after a quick shutdown that left hundreds of truckers caught. It would proceed sure journey restrictions by means of at the least Jan. 6.

And on Thursday, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention introduced that the U.S. would require all vacationers from the U.Ok. to current proof of a unfavourable coronavirus take a look at from not more than 72 hours earlier than their departure, beginning Dec. 28.

As NPR’s Michaeleen Doucleff has reported, researchers have already detected the brand new variant in a number of nations, together with Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia. Others, together with the U.S., haven’t been monitoring variants as intently.

Additionally on Friday, Japanese officers confirmed the nation’s first 5 instances of the brand new variant in passengers arriving from the U.Ok.