“It is the first known case in Germany,” the health ministry of Baden-Wuerttemberg state said in a statement.
The woman had arrived in Frankfurt airport on December 20 from London Heathrow. She was driven home by her relatives into quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 on arrival at the airport.
North Rhine-Westphalia imposes compulsory coronavirus testing for arrivals from risk areasĀ
A day later, she began showing mild symptoms and a second test also turned up positive. A sample of her swab test was sent to a specialised laboratory for further analysis.
“Today the virus variant B.1.1.7 was detected there,” added the regional ministry.
Germany on Tuesday extended a ban on arrivals from the United Kingdom until January 6 after the new strain, which British authorities say is more infectious, appeared there.
The virus already seemed to be sweeping rapidly through Germany even before the new strain.