Kuwait, Morocco report first cases of UK coronavirus variant

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