Coronavirus: Spain Detects Variant Cases for 1st Time

The Madrid region authorities announced Saturday the registration of four cases of the new mutated coronavirus variant that recently appeared in Britain; it is believed to be the most capable of transmitting the infection.

It is the first to be discovered in Spain.

A health official  told reporters that all four cases were discovered in people who had recently arrived from the United Kingdom.

"The infected persons are not in critical condition. We know that this variant of coronavirus is more contagious, but it does not cause more severe symptoms... There is no need to panic," he stressed.

He pointed out that there were three other cases suspected of having the mutated variant, but the results of the tests that were conducted for these people would not appear until Tuesday or Wednesday.

The emergence of the new variant of the novel coronavirus prompted more than 50 countries, including Spain, to impose travel restrictions from the United Kingdom.

Since Tuesday, Madrid has also banned entry to all arrivals from the United Kingdom, except for Spanish citizens and residents.

Meanwhile, Spain received the first doses of the Pfizer-Biontec vaccine against coronavirus on Saturday, on the eve of the European Union's launch of the vaccination campaigns.

A refrigerated truck arrived at Pfizer warehouse in Guadalajara in central Spain, carrying the cargo, according to a health ministry statement.

The vaccines will be distributed after being repacked to the 17 autonomous regions of Spain to start vaccination campaigns across the country as scheduled on Sunday, according to the ministry.

Spain will receive 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine over the next 12 weeks, enough to vaccinate 2.3 million people, according to the ministry.

The government expects between 15 million and 20 million of its population of 47 million will be vaccinated by June.

Spain was among the European countries most affected by the epidemic, as more than 1.8 million people were infected and 50 thousand of them died, according to the Ministry of Health.