A new version of the coronavirus discovered in Great Britain has also been identified in Sweden and Spain.

The Swedish Health Service announced on Saturday that a new version of the coronavirus had been identified in Södermanland county after a traveler from Britain became ill and tested positive for the virus. Sara Byfors, a member of the office staff, told a press conference that the traveler, whose identity had not been disclosed, had been segregated after her arrival in Sweden and no further positive cases had been found so far. Fearing the new version, Sweden imposed entry restrictions on those who came from Great Britain in December. Several other EU Member States and countries around the world have taken similar measures.

In the Autonomous Community of Madrid, the British variant has been identified in four individuals and three others are suspected, in which case the genome of the virus is still being sequenced, reported the Regional Directorate of Public Health. Antonio Zapatero, the region’s deputy health minister, said the four people had returned from Britain. In addition to those infected in Madrid, a new variant of the infection has already been identified in France, the Netherlands and Denmark, according to a report by the EFE news agency.

British Health Secretary Matthews Hankock announced on December 14 that British scientists had discovered a mutant of a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, which began to spread rapidly in south-east England. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said primary data suggests the new version is presumably 70 percent more contagious, but there is no evidence of a higher death rate.



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