Researchers from Spain and Switzerland have identified a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, 20A.EU1, that emerged in northern Spain and spread rapidly across Europe—likely fueled by summer travel. This strain is linked to the continent's fastest COVID-19 surge since the pandemic's start.
Europe faced a more severe second COVID-19 wave, with France imposing a nationwide lockdown from October 30 to at least December 1, 2020. A pressing question was the virus's surprisingly swift propagation since late summer.
In a medRxiv preprint published October 28, 2020, Spanish and Swiss experts detailed the 20A.EU1 variant, first detected in June among agricultural workers in northern Spain. It quickly reached France, the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Latvia, and Norway.
In many countries, 20A.EU1 dominated cases: 80% in Spain and the UK, 60% in Ireland, and 40% in France and Switzerland.
Pending peer review, the study leaves open whether this spread stems from a transmission edge or Spain's high incidence amplified by tourists. Co-author Emma Hodcroft, a virus evolution specialist at the University of Basel, argues the second wave was avoidable due to lapses in barrier gestures and precautions. No evidence suggests mutations boost transmissibility or severity.
The team now focuses on evaluating 20A.EU1's contagiousness and severity versus other strains. Hodcroft notes she's never seen a variant spread with such dynamics in European coronavirus genomic surveillance.
