The British government will carry out mass tests to try to find a traveler who arrived from Brazil with the “Brazilian” variant Sars-Cov-2, the so-called P.1, which is more contagious than the original virus. P.1 was first detected in the country, in three people who flew to England and three who went to Scotland. One of them, however, is unknown, as he did not complete the ID card that came with the test.
Public Health England (PHE) says it entered England ahead of the current mandatory quarantine measures at hotels – which began on February 15. To try to find it, the government will follow hundreds of passengers on a series of flights that have connected with others from Brazil in the first weeks of February.
P.1 worries the British government because its mutations, in addition to making it more contagious, could make the virus less sensitive to the vaccines currently used in the country.
The other two cases of the variant detected in England are from the same family, in which one of the members returned from Brazil five days before the entry into force of the quarantine under surveillance. He left São Paulo, connected in Zurich and arrived in London on February 10 on Swiss Air Lines flight LX318.
According to PHE, he developed symptoms, was tested and his contacts were identified and isolated. Still, the government is tracking all passengers who have arrived on the same flight and will run tests in areas of the region he lives in – South Gloucestershire, in southwest England – to reduce the possibility of unidentified transmission. .
PHE also appealed to anyone who tested Sars-Cov-2 on February 12 or 13 and did not receive the result or did not fill out the identity card to contact the health authorities.
Three people living in northern Scotland also tested positive for the P.1 variant after returning from Brazil with connections in Paris and London. The three identified the mutant during the ten-day quarantine, during which they were isolated, and the other passengers on the flight are contacted.