LISBON (Reuters) – The first case of the South African coronavirus variant was identified in Portugal on Friday, Ricardo Jorge’s health institute told Lusa news agency, as the country struggles to contain a major boost in cases partly to blame for the rapid spread of volatile Britain.
“We are going through an appropriate process to test and prevent the potential distribution chain,” the Ricardo Jorge Institute told Lusa. He did not say where the strain was found in Portugal.
The nation of 10 million people recorded 234 coronavirus deaths and 13,987 cases on Friday, and it currently reports the seven-day follow-up average of new cases and deaths per million worldwide according to ourworldindata.org.
(This story corrects the 3rd paragraph to say 13,987 cases, not deaths)
Reciting with Victoria Waldersee,; Edited by Chizu Nomiyama