We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
LAST UPDATE | 26 Dec 2020
FRANCE AND SPAIN have both confirmed their first cases of the new coronavirus variant that recently emerged in Britain.
The new strain of the virus, which experts fear is more contagious, has prompted more than 50 countries to impose travel restrictions on the UK.
The first French case — found in a citizen living in Britain who arrived from London on 19 December — is asymptomatic and self-isolating at home in Tours in central France, the ministry said late Friday.
They were tested in a hospital on 21 December, and later found positive for the strain.
Health authorities have carried out contact-tracing for the health professionals taking care of the patient, the ministry said in a statement.
Any of their contacts that were seen as vulnerable would similarly be isolated, it said.
In addition to this first case, several other positive samples that “may suggest the VOC 202012/01 variant are being sequenced” by the specialist laboratories of the national Pasteur Institute, the statement added.
On Monday, France’s health minister Olivier Veran had admitted that it was possible the newly discovered strain was already in the country.
Spain has also registered its first cases of the coronavirus variant, according to Madrid’s regional government.
The region said four cases had been detected involving people who had recently arrived from the UK or had close contact with someone who had.
The father, mother and sister of a young man who arrived in Madrid by plane last week have tested positive for the coronavirus variant, it added.
The young man is suspected to have the new variant as well but Spanish authorities are waiting for the results of a polymerase chain reaction PCR test to confirm this.
The fourth confirmed case of the new variant involves a man who arrived in Madrid on December 20 on another flight.
“The patients are not seriously ill, we know that this strain is more transmissible, but it does not cause more serious illness,” Madrid regional deputy health chief Antonio Zapatero told a news conference.
Italian authorities have detected the new strain in a patient in Rome, while the World Health Organization reported that nine cases have been detected in Denmark and one each in the Netherlands and Australia.
Following the snap 48-hour ban this week, France had reopened its borders to the UK — partly to allow French citizens to return home, as well as to relieve the massive build-up of freight goods — but had instituted a testing policy.
France’s interior ministry said Thursday that limits on travel from the UK will continue “until at least January 6″.
For now, only citizens of France or the EU, those with residency rights there or business travellers are allowed to make the crossing from the UK — if they can show a negative Covid-19 test less than three days old.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Given that this NEW strain has been around for the last four months, I would say it was already in France, but they can identify it now. Silly and childish of France to close their doors on the UK: EU politics more like, but what a childish thing to do
@Carol Cunningham: not child ish at all. It’s common sense when so little is known about the new strain. The first confirmed case of Covid-19 in France was someone from Britain on a skiing holiday there who flew in from China…
@Carol Cunningham: not childish, its a similar approach to how the lock-downs are supposed to work. It buys time to figure out what is happening and plan, in this case more robust border controls and track & trace are most likely required, the fee days gives time to get them in place then revert back to allowing travel with those additional controls.
@Carol Cunningham: How is it silly and childish? Boris and his government have known about this strain since October at the very minimum but did not tell the rest of the world about it! That is reckless and criminal af the very least.
@David Stapleton: it’s weaker than the old strain so will do less damage but if you talk up the game then the government splurge on vaccines will be justifiable. Next year Covid will probably just be a common cold strain
@Lucious Sweet: thanks for clarifying that for me – all the articles I’ve read have just mentioned a new strain, very contagious but nothing of its effect. Very vague.
@Lucious Sweet: Who is talking up the game . I said that very little is known about the new strain. If you have information about it then let’s know your source ?
@Carol Cunningham: there are suggestions it came from there in the first place
@Laura Halpenny: so someone says it’s less virulent and your response is to thank them for clarifying it with no questions asked ? At least ask for sources. A general rule of thumb with à virus is that the more transmissible it is, the less virulent it is, but saying it without source material means very little.
@Lucious Sweet: is there evidence that it is weaker than the old strain? I wouldn’t have thought that there was enough evidence yet to prove that. Sounds like an anti-vaccer angle. Everyone should get the vaccine anyway. Chances are, just like flu, the vaccines will have to be adapted to be fully effective against the variants.
@Lucious Sweet: any sources for that? I’ve read almost anywhere that at this stage there’s no evidence that the new strain is stronger, as strong, or weaker than the previous one.
@Alex Marquis: you mean you haven’t read the works of the world renowned virologist/epidemiologist/vaccinologist Dr Luscious Sweet?!
@Carol Cunningham: Abosolutely it was already in france. Britain will learn not to be so honest next time.
@Carol Cunningham: it wasn’t just France. Stop being childish
@Lucious Sweet: amazing, you know more about the new strain than the international scientific community does as of yet – maybe you should get in touch with them to share your insights instead of posting on the comment section of an Irish online newspaper..
@Carol Cunningham: it gave Britain a taste of a no deal brexit and surprisingly a few days later we have an agreement….
@Alex Marquis: you need to read more
@Lotta Rossler: I know. I never cease to amaze myself
@Lucious Sweet: post a link. It would be nice to read this evidence to give us all some comfort.
@Alex Marquis:
It’s unlikely that anyone in officialdom will say it out loud, but there are some indications that countries are less concerned about health services being swamped.
For example, there does not appear to be very many Covid patients on ventilators anywhere, pieces of equipment that were essential for the fight against the virus back in March and April.
Indeed the US is selling off or donating surplus ventilators to anyone that wants them.
In the UK the Nightingale hospital in London, the epicentre of the mutant strain, has been dismantled, hardly a sign of worry.
@Jim Buckley Barrett: so which bit of international law did Macron break then? What an abuse of power using covid to push a political agenda. I’m sure the British are glad they are away from such behaviour.
@Carol Cunningham: it’s a variant and not a strain. Very important as a new strain would require a new vaccine.
@Lucious Sweet: no, you said something without giving sources, i.e. without backing it up…
I just wonder if it’s as aggressive as the original strain or more/less fatal.
@Laura Halpenny: I suppose we’ll have to wait until either the scientists or the PR departments of the Government let us know – which ever comes first…
@Laura Halpenny: Well the proof is in the article. Asymptomatic….. so no. Clearly a non issue
@Laura Halpenny: Every virus weakens over time as it wants to infect as many people as possible without killing the host. A report in the times last week said these lockdowns are actually slowing down the process.
@Laura Halpenny: We dont know yet much about it. Nor from the main the main strain from China. However, what it seems to do in such small time, is to infect more people rapidly so we imagine it is 50 to 70% more contagious. It doesnt seem to be killing more people so the mutations do not increase its mortality apparently.
The New South African strain seems to be both more contagious and have increase morbidity (ie, it seems, from preliminary data collected there, to affect younger people and cause in them serious symptoms). However, the South African mutation does not seem to be here in Europe, apart from 2 cases in the UK.
We dont know if the mutant strains will be vaccine resistant , but most scientist believe it wont be, howver no one is sure at the moment, just educated guesses.
@Shnack: one person who is infected by the new strain is asymptonatic. You do know that there are many with the current strain who are also asymptonatic, don’t you ?
@Shnack: The one that was tested was asymptomatic but that doesnt necessarily mean it’s not as serious as the original strain – there were asymptomatic cases with that.
It was discovered in Sept yet no one knows if it’s more dangerous and no one in the mainstream press is asking WHO or EU why? Has every person we normally look to for information been neutered?
@Michael Flynn: It was discovered in mid-December, or more exactly it was noticed by mid-December that this particular variant was becoming rapidly more common. The reason why they noticed it is because this particular variant gives a false negative for the Spike gene on some RT-PCR machines that target multiple genes, it’s positive for two genes but negative for the Spike gene. They saw a huge increase in this variant in the last 4 weeks, and the areas it is found, are having increased infection rates despite the fact they are under Tier 4 lockdown.
After it was noticed it was getting more common, they looked into a database that collected information about the genetics of many virus variants circulating in the UK, they found 2 people tested in late September for this variant. They now call it B.1.1.7.
You are right, there needs to a good article written about this new variant, that explains why it’s different and why they believe it’s more contagious. The information is out there, I read what the scientists are saying, how they work out that it’s more contagious.
For example, to be sure it is really more contagious and not just chance, they created an engeered mouse virus that infects mice cells, that has the Spike gene taken from the new variant. It infected mouse cells twice as fast, so it is more infectious.
The Tanish Flu has arrived
@Whatever: gold!
It’s the South African strain that is different and the science world is increasingly worried, due to mutations to the spike protein. Our MRna vaccines are tailored for the original spike protein, it remains to be seen if it has a massive effect on it, or it could make the vaccines immunity, weaker to the strain.
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say