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The French government recommended that rugby clubs postpone the next European Cup matches with British teams due to the new Covid-19 variant, according to a statement sent to AFP on Saturday.
The decision casts doubt on the final two rounds of group matches scheduled to start next weekend.
Next week there will be a meeting to discuss this year’s Six Nations, beginning on February 6.
“This new variant of SARS-CoV-2 has increased transmissibility compared to those currently circulating in France, which then increases the risk of contamination,” the statement said.
“This is why all trips or holidays to Britain are highly discouraged,” he added.
Last week, the European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) and the organizers of the national competition agreed to evolve the protocol in continental tournaments, which the top 14 teams believed were too light.
Six matches have already been canceled in the Champions and Challenge Cups earlier in the season due to coronavirus cases between teams.
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After playing matches against English teams in December, Bayona and Pau registered cases of the new variant among their configurations.
Several recent studies, which have yet to be peer-reviewed, have concluded that the British variant of the disease is likely much more transmissible than other strains.
Much of Britain has been under lockdown since last week in an attempt to reduce infection rates and spiraling deaths.
A total of 1,325 new deaths were recorded on Friday within 28 days of a positive test, the highest since the peak of the first wave in April last year.
On Thursday, the French Ministry of Health reported that two clusters of the UK variant affecting a total of 19 people had been detected in a nursing home in France’s western Brittany region, and in Bagneux, a southern suburb. from Paris.
Authorities found no evidence of any contact between one of the people infected in Bagneux and someone who had traveled from Britain, which, according to the ministry, indicated that the mutant virus is already circulating in France.
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