Kuwait, Morocco report first cases of UK coronavirus variant
RABAT--Kuwaiti officials confirmed Tuesday that two cases of the UK variant of the coronavirus pandemic were registered in the Arab Gulf nation.
The two cases were confirmed after genetic analysis of the virus variant on two Kuwaiti female travellers who tested COVID-19 positive after arrival from the United Kingdom.
Kuwait began coronavirus vaccinations last month, after receiveing the first 150,000 doses of the the vaccine developed by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
“This vaccine is safe and has been approved by many countries,” said Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah, who was the first to receive the jab, state media reported.
More than 151,000 pandemic-related cases and 948 deaths have been recorded in Kuwait.
Morocco
Morocco’s health ministry also confirmed on Monday its first imported case of the more contagious variant of the novel coronavirus first discovered in the UK.
The variant was detected in the northern port of Tangier in a Moroccan national returning from Ireland via Marseille, the ministry said in a statement.
People who were in contact with the virus carrier are currently undergoing quarantine, according to the health ministry’s protocol.
On Monday, the Moroccan foreign ministry said travellers from Australia, Brazil, Ireland and New Zealand will not be allowed into the country.
Since late December, Morocco has suspended flights coming from the UK in an effort to protect against further spread of the virus.
The North African country has announced it plans to launch a free vaccination campaign targeting 25 million people, or 80% of its population.
Morocco reportedly ordered 66 million vaccine doses from AstraZeneca Plc and China’s Sinopharm. It has not yet received any.
On December 23, Morocco imposed a nationwide four-week curfew from 9:00pm to 6:00am to contain the virus.
On Monday, the country said it has recorded a total of 460,144 coronavirus infections including 7,977 deaths and 16,481 active cases.
Health experts have raised concerns over new highly transmissible mutations of the virus first reported in the UK and South Africa and now cropping up in several other countries.
A third new variant has since been reported in Brazil.
