Date Published: 27/01/2021
ARCHIVED - 16 cases of British variant confirmed in the Murcia Region
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
A further 20 suspected cases are being analysed at the moment
The emergence and spread of new variants is expected to make life more complicated for the health authorities engaged in the fight to bring coronavirus under control, due to the increased virulence of new, imported variants, such as the “British variant”, the “South African variant” and the “Brazilian variant.”
Although the British government knew about the spread of a new variant, the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in Kent, hence its’ nickname “British variant” mid-autumn, the extent of its spread was not made public until just before Christmas, by which time the new variant had been able to leave the shores of the UK and spread all over the world. At least 50 countries are now known to have confirmed detection of this variant.
The first cases in Spain were found in individuals known to have travelled to Spain from the UK before the British Government revealed the extent of its spread within the UK.
Although France immediately locked down its ports after the announcement had been made, by this point hundreds of travellers from the UK had taken advantage of a 2-week window between travel bans to drive through France into Spain without the need for a PCR test, some of them bringing the variant with them. In other cases, PCR tests had given a negative result, but travellers developed symptoms after arriving in Spain, as obviously it’s perfectly possible to contract the virus in the 72 hour window between taking a PCR test and travelling. In most instances, the first variants detected were found in people who had travelled from the UK as described above during this time period, although later detections of the variant have been secondary infections.
In Murcia, the first four confirmed cases all relate to British nationals who had travelled to Murcia in the last two weeks of December.
The regional health service has now confirmed that a total of 16 cases of the variant have been detected in the region and there are a further 20 suspected cases awaiting results which have been sent to Madrid for sequencing. It has not been revealed at the moment whether any of these are secondary infections or all relate to travellers from the UK.
In the meantime, it appears that the “British strain” of the virus is already on its way to becoming the dominant one in various parts of the country, and specialists at the Hospital Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona report that it is now being transmitted within the region of Catalunya rather than being “imported” from elsewhere. 8% of all PCR tests in the region are yielding positive for the British variant and the regional health authority in Catalunya said on Tuesday that it expects the variant to be dominant by the middle of March.
In Madrid it is reported that some 9 per cent of cases are due to the B.1.1.7 variant.
Regional government spokesman Antonio Zapatero adds that in different health areas the proportions range from 7 per cent to 33 per cent, and that during February it is likely to become the dominant type of coronavirus in and around the national capital.
The Basque Country health authority confirmed a “progressive “ increase in its region on Tuesday, now having confirmed 24 cases.
The Canary Islands also confirmed on Tuesday that they had detected 49 cases of the British variant, but none of the south African or Brazilian variants.
The northern region of Cantabria reported on Sunday that the strain now accounts for almost a quarter of new confirmed cases in the region.