California and Colorado have also found cases involving the variant. None of those infected in the United States have traveled recently, so the new strain is clearly in circulation, albeit at unknown levels.
It is not known that the variant, known as B.1.1.7., Leads to serious cases of Covid-19, but its spread is likely to predict more infections and more hospitalizations at a time when many countries are already struggling with case loads. and expect more from holiday gatherings and travel.
The list of countries that identified infections with the variant has grown rapidly and includes from Friday, except the United States, Britain and Turkey, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland , India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates.
In South Africa, a similar version of the virus has emerged, according to scientists who detected it, which is one of the mutations in B.1.1.7. This variant, known as 501.V2, has been found in up to 90 percent of the samples whose genetic sequences have been analyzed in South Africa since mid-November.
The British authorities said they had located two cases of the variant identified in South Africa. In both cases, the infected people were in contact with people who had traveled to South Africa from Britain in the past few weeks. Switzerland, Finland, Australia, Zambia and France also detected the variant.