#Argentina detects first case of British virus variant
“#Argentina detects first case of British virus variant”
Argentina has detected its first case of a British-identified coronavirus variant that appears to be more infectious, authorities said Saturday.
The infection was discovered in a man who arrived from Britain in Argentina in late December without symptoms of the disease.
Authorities “detected the variant of SARS-CoV-2 from the United Kingdom in a traveler,” science minister Roberto Salvarezza said wrote Twitter, identifying the strain as “VOC202012/01”
Since first being reported to the World Health Organization in mid-December, the British-identified variant has been found in dozens of countries.
This strain is believed to be more easily transmissible because of a mutation of the spike protein, the part of the virus which latches on to human cells.
Argentina, with a population of 44 million, has seen 1.78 million cases of COVID-19 and 45,227 deaths since March.
Last week, authorities warned of a surge of cases and banned night-time activities and gatherings of more than 10 people.
Direct flights from Britain have been prohibited.
Follow the latest news on the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak
© 2021 AFP
Citation:
Argentina detects first case of British virus variant (2021, January 16)
retrieved 16 January 2021
from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-01-argentina-case-british-virus-variant.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on Google News too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.
For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com
If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our Science category.
