Senior politician deduces that expats have brought British COVID-19 strain to part of Spain’s Costa Blanca

THE largest concentration British-strain COVID-19 cases in the Valencian Community are in a Costa Blanca area with a significant number of expats.

Valencian vice-president, Monica Oltra, announced today(January 29) that the Vega Baja region, with centres like Torrevieja and Orihuela, has seen the largest presence of the new and more virulent COVID strain in the Community.

Monica Oltra said: “The prevalence of the British strain has grown the most in the south, especially in the Vega Baja, which has a high British population.”

Her conclusions though might be too simplistic.

Other parts of the Costa Blanca like the Marina Alta and Marina Baixa have similar expat numbers but with apparently lower ‘strain’ figures.

The first reports of the British strain in the Community, and Alicante Province specifically in early January, all revolved around infections brought in by Spanish nationals.

The carriers had all returned home from visits to the United Kingdom.

No further information has been supplied since then as to what nationalities are said to have spread the British strain of COVID-19.

Monica Oltra also emphasised that irrespective of what COVID strain is around, preventative measures must be followed

“Avoiding social contact is one thing we know for certain that minimises contagion,” she said.

Oltra also attacked people flocking to regional beaches during the unseasonably warm weather for not wearing masks and ignoring social distancing.