PARIS, Feb 4 (Reuters) – France has detected four cases of COVID-19 resulting from the contagious coronavirus variant first detected in Brazil, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Thursday.

Veran said France was in a “race against time” against the mutations first identified in Britain, South Africa and Brazil.

The variants now account for 14% of all new cases in France, the government says. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Richard Lough and Chris Reese)

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