South Korea and Finland both said they have confirmed their first cases of the new COVID-19 variant, which has been running through the United Kingdom and has prompted shutdowns across Europe.
What’s going on?
South Korea and Finland both became the latest country to confirm the new COVID-19 variant.
- South Korea confirmed its case after a family tested positive for it after visiting the UK, BBC News reports. Three citizens returned to South Korea with the new strain.
In Finland, officials confirmed that a citizen who returned from the UK tested positive during the weekend. The family has now gone into isolation.
Reuters reports there are now two cases of the COVID-19 variant in Finland. There were also reports of a case being found in South Africa. Reports from last weekend suggested the variant had already made its way to Africa, though.
What about the United States?
Multiple experts have already said the new UK variant has made its way to the United States.
- Dr. Anthony Fauci told “Good Morning America”: “When you have this amount of spread within a place like the UK, you really need to assume that it’s here already … it certainly is not the dominant strain but I would certainly not be surprised at all if it is already here.”
Over the holiday weekend, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it will require a negative COVID-19 test for airline passengers entering the United States from the United Kingdom, The Washington Post reports.