Japan, Spain, France and Canada have found a small number of infections involving a potentially new, more transmissible variant of the coronavirus, most associated with travel from the UK, where it was first detected.
The rapid spread of the variant led to the blockade of London and the south of England this week, caused a temporary blockade of the English Channel by France and resulted in countries around the world barring UK travelers. Because few countries have the level of genomic surveillance that the UK does, there is concern that the variant may have traveled the world undetected for weeks.
A recent study by British scientists found no evidence that the variant is more deadly than others, but estimated it to be 56% more contagious.
So far, the British variant has been diagnosed in seven people in Japan, the country’s health ministry said. Everyone had recently traveled to the UK or had been in contact with someone who did.
The discovery in Japan led the country to close its borders to all new inflows of non-resident foreigners. The ban will go into effect at midnight on Monday and will last until the end of January, public broadcaster NHK said.
In Spain, the variant was found in the capital region, local officials said on Saturday. Antonio Zapatero, a regional health official, said four cases were confirmed in Madrid, while three others are being treated as suspects. At least two of the cases involve people who have recently been to Britain and then tested positive in Madrid, as well as some of their relatives.
The first case of the new coronavirus rapid spread variant was identified in France on Friday, according to the French Ministry of Health. Officials said the patient was a French citizen living in Britain who traveled from London to Tours, a city in central France, on December 19, the day before the British government imposed a blockade after the variant emerged.
Health officials in Ontario, Canada, said on Saturday they had confirmed two cases of the mutant virus in the province. The two cases included a couple from Durham, about 145 kilometers northwest of Toronto. The couple had no history of travel, exposure or high-risk contacts, the provincial health ministry said.
It is normal for viruses to mutate, and most coronavirus mutations have proven to be minor. The British variant has a constellation of 23 mutations, several of which can alter its transmissibility. Vaccine experts are confident that available vaccines will be able to block the new variant, although this must be confirmed by ongoing laboratory experiments.
European Union member countries are scheduled to start vaccinating against the virus on Sunday with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Hungary started administering the vaccine the day before, on Saturday.
Some other worrying variants have also been identified, including one in South Africa and one in Nigeria. The UK said on Thursday it would ban travel from South Africa after British health secretary Matt Hancock said two people were confirmed to be infected with the variant that appeared there.
Germany and Singapore have identified infections with the new variant. And Denmark, which has broader genomic surveillance than many other countries, detected 33 cases of the variant from November 14 to December 14, according to Danish health officials.
The USA has yet to report any cases of the UK variant. But the country will require all airline passengers arriving from Britain to test negative for coronavirus within 72 hours of their departure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. The rule will take effect on Monday.
Hisako Uenoand Mike Ives contributed reports.