A first case of the Covid-19 variant contributing to the exploding outbreak in India has been detected in Switzerland, the public health authority said.

“The first case of the Indian variant of Covid-19 has been discovered in Switzerland,” Switzerland's Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) said. The virus variant was found in “a passenger who arrived in Switzerland after transiting through a European airport”.

“The person changed flights in a European country before flying on to Switzerland,” spokesman Daniel Dauwalder told AFP in an email, adding that the positive sample was collected in March in the northern canton of Solothurn.

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