The Community of Madrid confirmed four infections with the new British variant of COVID-19 and currently has three other suspected cases, in which the genome of the virus is being sequenced, as reported on Saturday (26.12.2020) by the Directorate-General for Public Health of the region.
The cases come from four citizens who travelled from the United Kingdom, as indicated by the Vice-Counsel for Public Health of Madrid, Antonio Zapatero, at a press conference on developments in the epidemiological situation in the Community. Since Tuesday, only Spanish citizens and residents are allowed to enter Spain from the United Kingdom.
“The situation of confirmed patients is not serious, we know that it is more communicable, this strain, but does not cause greater severity,” Zapatero said. “You don’t have to take the news with any kind of nervousness,” he warned.
In these cases, Spain joins other European countries where cases of this new strain have been detected, such as France, the Netherlands or Denmark. The new variant of the virus detected in the UK this month led to a closure of borders of most European countries with Britain to prevent its expansion.
As a result, thousands of truckers have been waiting for days to move to France from British ports, although the first to test quickly have already begun to cross the channel.
