A first case of the new covid-19 strain that appeared in the United Kingdom was detected on Friday in the city 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 and who is asymptomatic, the ministry said in a statement, stating that the infected person was quarantined.
After arriving “from London on December 19 (…), he received medical care in a hospital and on the 21st gave positive results”, said the Ministry, which assured that he is “the first infected with the VOC 202012 variant / 01. “On French territory.
According to the protocol launched after the discovery of this possibly more contagious strain 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. The latter confirmed the infection with the variant VOC 202012/01 on Friday.
“Health officials have begun a search for medical professionals who have cared for the patient and the people he has been in contact with, so that they are strictly isolated,” the statement said.
In addition to this case, “so far, several positive samples that could be due to the VOC variant 202012/01 are sequenced by laboratories” from the National Reference Center, the Ministry added.