Even though Brasilian and South African coronavirus strains are present in France, their spread is significantly slower than the circulation of the UK-linked coronavirus variant, Bruno Lina, French virologist and a member of the national Scientific Council, told the France Inter broadcaster on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th February, 2021) Even though Brasilian and South African coronavirus strains are present in France, their spread is significantly slower than the circulation of the UK-linked coronavirus variant, Bruno Lina, French virologist and a member of the national Scientific Council, told the France Inter broadcaster on Wednesday.
London discovered the UK-linked coronavirus mutation in December 2020. The Brazilian strain was identified in Rio de Janeiro in the same month but the South African variant was detected two months earlier in October 2020.
"They [Brazilian, South African coronavirus variants] have been detected for around a fortnight [in France] but their penetration levels are much lower than that of the UK variant," Lina said.
He noted, in particular, that the South African strain represents about 1 percent of the total daily numbers of coronavirus infections, which is the equivalent of some 200 people per day testing positive for the disease.
As for the Brazilian mutation of the virus, it shows "a few cases" per day, Lina specified.
The scientist also said he expected that the UK variant would prevail over the other strains in France in the first half of March and account for the majority of coronavirus infections, adding that its transmission capacity has increased up to 40 percent compared to the "classic" COVID-19 variant since it appeared in the country.
To date, France has confirmed 3,419,210 coronavirus cases and 80, 295 related fatalities.
