호주서 남아공발 변이 바이러스 첫 확인…"전파력 더 강해"
Australia has confirmed its first case of the South African variant of COVID-19,... after a woman who arrived in Queensland last week tested positive while in hotel quarantine.
Meanwhile, other countries around the world are also reporting cases of the U.K. variant, as well.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
According to Queensland's Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Yvette D'Ath on Tuesday,... a woman who had travelled overseas,... and arrived in the state last week,... tested positive for the new South African variant while in hotel quarantine.
While the U.K. variant has already been reported in the country,... this marks Australia's first confirmed case of the South African variant.
The patient is currently being treated in hospital .
Meanwhile,... more countries are reporting the U.K. variant in patients.
This includes India,... where six individuals who returned from the U.K. have been confirmed to have the new, more transmissible strain.
Health officials there have started contract-tracing close contacts and family members of the six patients to try and make sure there's no further spread.
The UAE on Tuesday also reported its first cases of the U.K. variant.
However,... the UAE government did not specify where the patients had traveled from,... or the number of cases.
In Germany,... local reports say the U.K. variant seems to have been present in the country since November,... as doctors detected it retrospectively in samples of an older patient who died later.
Germany reported its first known case last week from a patient who flew to Frankfurt from Britain.
The U.K. variant, which is known to be up to 70-percent more transmissible, is continuing to batter Britain,... as the country recorded a record 53-thousand-135 cases and 414 deaths on Tuesday.
With the massive resurgence,... further restrictions could be introduced in the country,... raising it to a Tier Five lockdown.
Tier Four restrictions came into force in London and other parts of the country on December 20th.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
