January 5th – On the 4th local time, the health agency of Corsica, France, said that a mutant infected person with COVID-19 was found, a returnees from London, England. So far, four mutant virus infections have been found in France, and the government is stepping up prevention and control.
According to French BFM TV, Marie-Eleanor Lessen, Director-General of the Health Agency of Corsica, said at a press conference on the 4th that the newly discovered patient has been quarantined at home and has been tracked for case contacts. At present, no contact cases have been found on the island.
Previously, France found the first mutant COVID-19 infection in Tours, the provincial capital of Andel-Loire, on the evening of December 25, 2020. A French man living in the United Kingdom, returned to France from London on December 19. He was found infected two days later and has been in quarantine ever since.
The man is a person with asymptomatic infection, and the health department screened the health personnel who came into contact with him and actively searched for the case contact.
December 30, the second mutant COVID-19 infection was diagnosed on French territory, who was also a French resident in Britain and returned to France, but the health department did not specify the specific area of the patient.
On the same day, another mutant infected with COVID-19 was found in France, a resident of Rhine Province. After returning to France from South Africa, he developed symptoms. He was tested for PCR virus in Switzerland and tested positive.
Then he sequenced it to confirm that he was infected with the mutant novel coronavirus found in South Africa. The patient was quarantined at home as soon as he showed symptoms. , and the health department has not found any dangerous case contacts.
Arnold Fontanay, a French epidemiologist and member of the Scientific Committee, pointed out in an interview with the media on the 4th that mutant coronavirus must be “very seriously monitored” because it is indeed worrying and will lead to an extremely complicated situation.
He added that the actual number of cases of mutant COVID-19 in France is not clear, and it may be about dozens of cases. He believes that this mutant COVID-19 poses a considerable threat and must not be allowed to spread.
A study in London shows that mutant COVID-19 is 50 to 74 percent more contagious than the original virus.
The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention warns that because of the higher contagious nature of these virus variants, it could put additional strain on health systems and could lead to an increase in mortality rates.
The UK has been affected by the mutant coronavirus, and the number of cases has soared in the past few days. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on the evening of the 4th that England will restart a full lockdown from the 6th and continue until at least mid-February.
During this period, all non-essential travel is prohibited, and schools and non-essential stores are closed.
