BREAKING NEWS: Spain Detects First Case of South African Variant

Portugal's Covid Numbers Lowest Since October 2020

Portugal's Covid Numbers Lowest Since October 2020. image: EWN

THE FIRST CASE of the South African Covid variant in Spain has been detected in a patient from the northwestern region of Galicia according to health authorities.

The positive case of the South African Covid variant, known as E4848, has been detected in a 30-year old man according to the health authorities of Spain’s Galicia region.

The patient reportedly works in the shipbuilding sector, and recently returned to Vigo, Galicia, after completing work in South Africa. It is understood that upon arriving home he began displaying Covid symptoms, and doctors discovered that he had become the first case in Spain of the South African virus variant.

Experts from Vigo’s Alvaro Cunquieiro Hospital have been running sequencing tests at laboratories in nearby Meixoeiro Hospital to study the new strain, which was detected on the January 5th but only confirmed by Galician health authorities (Sergas) today.

Sergas say it will “carry out special surveillance in ports and on the arrival of travellers” into Galicia, a small region situated above Portugal in Spain’s northwest that has recently experienced a huge surge in Covid cases.

The South African strain is possibly more contagious than the regular Covid-19 virus, scientists suspect. However, today BioNTech and Pfizer both announced that their vaccines were effective against the mutation.


Thank you for taking the time to read this news article “BREAKING NEWS: Spain Detects First Case of South African Variant”. For more UK daily news, Spanish daily news and Global news stories, visit the Euro Weekly News home page.

Author badge placeholder
Written by

Oisin Sweeney

Oisin is an Irish writer based in Seville, the sunny capital of Andalucia. After starting his working life as a bookseller, he moved into journalism and cut his teeth as a reporter at one of Ireland's biggest news websites. Since joining Euro Weekly News in November, he has enjoyed covering the latest stories from Seville, Spain and further afield - with special interests in crime, cybersecurity, and European politics. Anyone who can pronounce his name first try gets a free cerveza...

Comments