Indian variant confirmed in seven crew members confined on a ship in Valencia

The origin of the outbreak on the other ship held in the harbour is the British strain

ARA
2 min
One of the boats confined in Valencia

BarcelonaForeign Health has confirmed that the Indian variant is the one that has caused the outbreak of coronavirus that affects the seven crew members of one of the two ships held in the port of Valencia, while in the other, where there were six positive cases to which have now been added three more, the origin of the outbreak corresponds to the British strain. This has been indicated to the Efe agency by sources of the Delegation of the Spanish government in the Valencian Community, which have detailed that the strain of the Indian variant has been confirmed in the Skiathos Y boat, of the shipping company Marfret; and the British variant in the Maersk Utah boat, of the company Maersk.

The same sources have specified that the fact that these two variants have been detected does not imply any different treatment from the one that the infected people are receiving, and that when three consecutive days pass without the crew showing symptoms, the total disinfection of the ships will be carried out to eliminate any trace of the virus.

The two crew members who, with the authorisation of Foreign Health, were transferred to hospitals in Valencia as a preventive measure after having fever, are recovering favourably, and the rest of the sailors who tested positive are in quarantine on the boats, do not have symptoms, and are waiting to complete their isolation.

The two ships have been confined in the port of Valencia since 1 May, after those responsible reported that some of the sailors had symptoms compatible with covid-19. Initially, 13 positive cases were confirmed (seven on the Skiathos Y and six on the Maersk Utah) but the latest update is of 16 positive cases (7 on the Skiathos Y and 6 on the Maersk Utah).

Earlier this month the first two cases of the Indian variant of covid were detected in Catalonia, a mutation for which there is no evidence that it has more serious consequences than other variants. The WHO has issued a statement on this strain known as B.1.617, which it considers for the time being to be a variant of concern, i.e. one to be studied in detail. Other variants, such as the so-called South African, Brazilian and British variants, have long been classified as variants of concern because, among other things, they are more transmissible than the virus initially identified in Wuhan.

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