MADRID, Feb 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Madrid health authorities on Friday confirmed the first case of the Brazilian variant of COVID-19 in the region, three days after Spain restricted air travel with Brazil and South Africa to curb the spread of virulent new strains.
A 44-year-old man who arrived at Madrid’s airport on Jan 29 tested positive for the coronavirus and subsequent lab tests confirmed he had caught the new strain, the regional government of Madrid said in a statement.
The national health ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether other cases of the Brazilian variant had been detected elsewhere in Spain.
On Wednesday, Spain detected its second known case of the South African coronavirus variant.
The case is the first report in Spain of the variant, blamed for a disastrous surge in infections in the Brazilian city of Manaus.
The announcement came three days after Spain restricted arrivals by air from Brazil and South Africa to curb the spread of new strains.
Madrid has since the end of December also restricted arrivals from Britain because of the discovery of a new virus strain there last year.
Health authorities are concerned that new strains of the virus may spread more easily or could contain mutations which allow the virus to evade the effects of vaccines.
At least two cases of the South African variant have so far been detected in Spain and around 450 cases of the British variant.
Spain has been hard-hit by the pandemic, recording over 61,000 deaths from nearly three million cases so far.
