France reported its first case of the new variant of coronavirus recently identified in the UK.
It has increased concerns of a new wave of the virus hitting the euro zone’s second-biggest economy.
A Frenchman who recently arrived back in France from London on December 19 had tested positive for the new variant of the coronavirus, the country’s health ministry confirmed.
He is self-isolating and feeling fine, the ministry said.
Other countries have also reported cases of the new variant: on Friday, Japan confirmed five infections in passengers who had all arrived from the UK, while cases in Singapore, Denmark, Australia and the Netherlands have been reported too.
France registered 20,262 new, confirmed COVID-19 cases and 159 more related deaths in hospitals in the last 24 hours.
