On Sun., Jan. 10, the Tamaulipas government reported the first patient in Mexico with a new strain of COVID-19 called B117. According to the Department of Health, the patient has been intubated since Saturday.

 

According to the Epidemiology Division’s report, the 65-year-old is a citizen of the United Kingdom who arrived on a flight from Amsterdam on Dec. 28 for work purposes, and later transferred to Mexico City and Matamoros.

 

On Dec. 29 he went through a protocol test in Matamoros in which he was found positive and thus kept in isolation with medical follow-up.

 

Per protocol, the National Epidemiological Surveillance System and the Institute for Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference (InDRE) were notified of the result.

 

On Jan. 4, the patient was admitted at a private hospital due to low oxygenation but after receiving medical attention he continued isolation at home. However, on Fri., Jan. 8 he returned to the hospital and was intubated on Sat., Jan. 9.

 

The other passengers on the flight are being checked but there is no evidence of contagion to date among the 31 passengers. The Tamaulipas government reported that 21 more people are being checked.

 

Faced with the new contagion, the Department of Health reported that it is employing security measures to avoid the spread of this new strain.

 

Sources: Department of Health, Tamaulipas State Goverment, El Financiero