Spanish officials confirmed that Spain found a variant of the SouthAfrican coronavirus in Spain on Thursday, as the Ministry of Health reported a decrease in new infections. 

Galician health officials said they found the mutation in a man who recently went to work in South Africa. This variant has been found in at least 30 other countries. Scientists believe it may spread more easily than previous strains. 

There is also concern that antibody therapy may be more difficult to treat and make it easier to reinfect people who have recovered from the virus. 

Perhaps more worrying now is the highly contagious British variant. Spanish health authorities have confirmed nearly 300 cases of this mutation and predict that it will become the main strain sometime in March. 

Another 34,899 cases of the virus were confirmed on Thursday, and 40,000 infections were reported on Wednesday. 

Although the occupancy rate of COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit increased slightly to 43%, hospitalization remained relatively stable. The new death toll soared 515, bringing the death toll to 57,806.