France detects case of South African coronavirus variant
South Africa is the country hit hardest by coronavirus on the African continent, with over one million infections so far and 26,000 people dead.
Patients with the COVID 19 Coronavirus, sit in a room and are given oxygen in the COVID-19 ward at Khayelitsha Hospital, about 35km from the centre of Cape Town, on December 29, 2020. (Photo by RODGER BOSCH / AFP)
France has detected its first case of the South African variant of coronavirus, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The 501.V2 Variant was detected by South African authorities in mid-December.
Cases have since been found in Japan and Britain among others.
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The variant, believed to be more easily transmitted like another version found in Britain, was discovered in France in a man who had returned from South Africa to his home in the Haut-Rhin region which borders Switzerland.
South Africa is the country hit hardest by coronavirus on the African continent, with over one million infections so far and 26,000 people dead.
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