Navarra´s health authorities have confirmed a further three cases of the mutant British COVID-19 strain.

The mutant strain which was first resported in the UK in December is considered to be up to 70% more contagious than the main Covid-19 coronavirus.

Of the three new cases registered, one was admitted to hospital and later released and the remaining two in self isolation.

The new cases add to the five that had been reported in Andalucia at the end of December.Of the five in Andalucia, three were reported in the province of Malaga and two in the province of Granada..

Juanma Moreno, president of the Regional Government of Andalusia, revealed that all five people confirmed to have the new strain had all travelled to the United Kingdom and went on to ask the national government for more control at airports.

The Spanish government announced the ban on arrivals from the UK unless Spanish nationals or officially registered residents will continue until 19th January.

The first cases of the new virus variant in Spain were found in the autonomous community of Madrid where there were four confirmed patients reported on December 26th.

A further three cases are under investigation in Madrid which officials hope to know the results sometime this week.

The new variant of COVID-19 first made headlines after cases spiked in the United Kingdom earlier this month (December).

However, it has quickly spread across several other countries including the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark and Iceland.