1st case of new coronavirus strain detected in Italy

The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries, reported Xinhua.

ROME

The first case of new coronavirus strain was officially registered in Italy in a person recently returned from Britain, the Italian Health Ministry said on Monday.

In a statement, the ministry said the new variation of the virus first detected in the United Kingdom (UK) was sequenced at Celio military hospital in the Italian capital.

The ministry said the patient and her partner, who had returned from the UK in the last few days with a flight landed at Fiumicino airport in Rome, were in isolation, along with their family members and close contacts.

The patient is a 25-year-old woman, and her British partner has tested positive for COVID-19, but not for the new virus strain so far, according to Ansa news agency quoting medical sources.

Both patients are asymptomatic, although the woman showed a high viral load, Ansa added.

LONDON

Another 33,364 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 2,073,511, according to official figures released Monday.

The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 215 to 67,616, the data showed.

Earlier Monday, Professor Andrew Hayward of the government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) said that Britons should be "very concerned" about the mutated strain of COVID-19.

"If the vaccine is the best news, this is the worst news we've had so far, and we really, really need to tighten down the hatches to stop the spread of this strain while vaccinating as many people as possible," he told Sky News.

MADRID

The Spanish and Portuguese governments have joined other European nations in suspending incoming flights from the United Kingdom (UK) following the detection of a new variant of the coronavirus, which is thought to be around 70 percent more transmissible than previous strains.

According to a communique published on Twitter on Monday afternoon, "The government of Spain, together with Portugal, will suspend from tomorrow (Tuesday) the entry into the Spanish territory of citizens from the United Kingdom, except nationals or residents in our country."

The communique added: "Border control in Gibraltar (the British Overseas Territory on Spain's south coast) will also be strengthened."

BELGRADE

Montenegro's government on Monday decided to ban New Year celebrations -- both indoors and outdoors -- to suppress COVID-19 outbreaks.

According to the measures prescribed by the health ministry, which will kick in from Dec. 22 to Jan. 11, celebrations are not allowed "in cafes and hotels, gatherings in weekend-houses are forbidden, and intercity traffic is closed during the holidays."

In the tourism-oriented country of just over 600,000 residents, 9,158 people are currently infected with COVID-19, and 329 new infections were confirmed in the past 24 hours, along with four deaths.

According to the Institute of Public Health, 34,181 people have recovered from COVID-19 here since the beginning of the epidemic, and 630 have died.