France finds first case of new coronavirus variant

A pedestrian walks past the entrance of the CHRU Hopital de Tours - Hopital Bretonneau in Tours, central France. PIC/AFP

France recorded its first case of the new COVID-19 variant on Friday, as the number of cases and deaths from Coronavirus mounted in the country, increasing concerns of a new wave of the virus hitting the Euro zone's second-biggest economy.

The first case of a particularly infectious Coronavirus variant that recently emerged in Britain has been confirmed in a French citizen living in Britain. The person had tested positive for the new variant of the Coronavirus. He is asymptomatic and quarantined at home in central France, the French health ministry said.

The ministry said the case, the first in France, had been found in the city of Tours. The man in question arrived from London on December 19. "The health authorities have carried out contact-tracing for the health professionals taking care of the patient," the ministry said in a statement. In addition to this first case, "to date, several positive samples that may suggest the VOC 202012/01 variant are being sequenced" by the specialist laboratories of the national Pasteur Institute, the statement added.

8,02,90,726
TOTAL Number OF CORONAVIRUS

CASES IN THE WORLD

17,59,387
Number OF DEATHS WORLDWIDE

5,65,68,154
Number OF REC,OVERED PATIENTS