BREAKING NEWS: Madrid Confirms 18 Cases Of The Indian Covid Variant

Madrid Confirms 18 Cases Of The Indian Covid Variant.

THE Deputy Public Health Minister of Madrid, Antonio Zapatero, has announced that the Indian variant of the coronavirus “could become predominant in the coming weeks” in Spain and has affirmed that there is already community transmission of this strain:

“Eighteen cases of the Delta variant, known as the Indian variant, have been detected- they are added to the four cases from last week- so now we have 22 cases, with several others pending sequencing, “said Zapatero, who denounced the Spanish Government saying:

“There is still no effective control in Barajas (Airport).” Zapatero has also explained that the Community will bring forward the second dose of AstraZeneca to those over 60 years of age and vulnerable people within 11 weeks of the first – instead of 12 – due to the surge in the variants now being detected.

Since the start of the pandemic, new variants have been a worry for countries all over the world, especially for those involved in developing vaccines. Scientists couldn’t be sure if new variants would evade any protection a vaccine may offer, or if they would cause COVID-19 to spread more quickly, make more people seriously ill or make it harder to treat.

A number of ‘variants of concern’ have emerged over the past few months including the Kent variant which became the most common across the UK, and the South African and Brazilian variants.

Now, a number of variants originating in India have since reached the UK including B.1.617.2, a variant of concern that seems to be spreading quickly. There have been over 3,400 cases detected so far, an increase of 160% last week.

Currently, cases are concentrated around the North West of England – Bolton in particular – and London, but clusters of the variant have been seen across the country.