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ARCHIVED - Cantabrian Government says British variant responsible for 25 per cent of coronavirus infections in the region
A tightening of pandemic restrictions is in the pipeline as case numbers continue to rise in Cantabria
Despite the insistence of the national authorities that the B.1.1.7 “British” strain of Covid-19 is present in Spain only to a minimal extent Reinhard Wallmann, the head of the health authorities in the northern region of Cantabria, reported on Sunday that the mutation now accounts for almost a quarter of new confirmed cases in the area.
According to Sr Wallmann, the proportion has risen from 14 per cent to almost 25 per cent in the space of the last three weeks, and although Cantabria currently has one of the lowest 14-day accumulated incidence rates among Spain’s 17 regions (at 411 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) he fears that the upward curve will continue over the coming weeks. 13.7 per cent of hospital beds and 30 per cent of those in intensive care units are already occupied by coronavirus patients and the situation is especially serious in the hospitals of Valdecilla and Laredo.
In this context the regional government is already preparing a tightening of the pandemic restrictions to be applied if the situation worsens. Should the incidence rate reach 500 and the occupancy level in ICUs cross the 40 per cent threshold, the rules will be made stricter regarding social gatherings and the opening of bars, restaurants and shops, and travel may be banned into and out of some municipalities with populations of over 5,000.
The spread of the British variant
In the meantime, it appears that the “British strain” of the virus is already on its way to becoming the dominant one in various parts of the country, and specialists at the Hospital Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona report that it is now being transmitted within the region of Catalunya rather than being “imported” from elsewhere.
This is the variant first identified in a Kent laboratory in the UK, hence the name “British variant“ or “UK variant”, which lies behind the significant surge in UK cases and lockdown which was made public by the British Government in December.
Although France immediately locked down its ports, by this point hundreds of travellers from the UK had taken advantage of a 2-week window between travel bans to drive through France into Spain without the need for a PCR test, some of them bringing the variant with them. In other cases, PCR tests had given a negative result, but travellers developed symptoms after arriving in Spain, as obviously it’s perfectly possible to contract the virus in the 72 hour window between taking a PCR test and travelling. In most instances, the first variants detected were found in people who had travelled from the UK as described above during this time period, although later detections of the variant have been secondary infections.
In Madrid, meanwhile, the authorities also dispute the assertion that the British strain is not present to a significant degree, and it is reported that some 9 per cent of cases are due to the B.1.1.7 variant.
Regional government spokesman Antonio Zapatero adds that in different health areas the proportions range from 7 per cent to 33 per cent, and that during February it is likely to become the dominant type of coronavirus in and around the national capital.