Holidaymakers returning from Spain spread new strain of coronavirus across Europe
Scientists trace second-wave Covid strain to super-spreader event among farm workers
Infected farm workers in Spain were a significant factor behind Europe’s disastrous second wave of the coronavirus, a study suggests.
An international team of scientists tracked the origin of the continent’s second wave through a genetic variant of the virus – 20A.EU1 – which was linked to a single super-spreading event among farm workers in Spain in the summer.
Scientists said the mutation accounts for the vast majority of cases in several countries, including more than 80 per cent in the UK.
The study found a failure to quarantine holidaymakers effectively upon returning from Spain and a lack of airport testing allowed the virus to spread rapidly across Europe.
Each variant of the virus leaves behind “breadcrumbs” through its unique genetic signature, allowing scientists to trace it back to its place of origin.
Dr Emma Hodcroft, a University of Basel evolutionary geneticist and lead author of the study, said the virus swept from farm workers in north-east Spain to the wider population in June – when European air travel was increasing after the spring shutdown.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Spain is a wonderful holiday destination and many people headed there.
“But it allowed the virus to move to many countries across Europe and when it got there it was able to spread quite rapidly.”
Dr Hodcroft said quarantine failures were largely to blame for the spread of the second wave.
“The cases were rising in Spain but we still allowed people to travel there – we didn’t really do much screening at airports – and it’s very likely positive people didn’t follow the quarantine as they were supposed to,” she said.
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“Finally, if the variant did get back to another European country, they weren’t able to cut it off quickly enough.”
The mutated virus is not believed to be more infectious, nor is it likely to hinder the development of a vaccine, Dr Hodcroft said.