Saturday, the number of countries that have discovered cases of the mutated coronavirus has increased to 33 countries, including Britain, where it first appeared less than a month ago.

Friday, Turkey became the latest country to discover infections of this type, as it detected 15 cases coming from Britain. In light of this, the country has decided to halt travels from the UK.

The Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca issued a statement saying that the 15 infected individuals are in isolation, and all those they have come into contact with are being traced and placed under quarantine.

The statement added that the mutated infection was not detected in anyone other than those who traveled to Britain.

The virus mutation seems to be most prominent in Europe. Friday, the list of European countries included, Britain, Turkey, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal and Norway.

In Asia, the mutation was discovered in China, India, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, the Israeli Occupation, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, the Emirates and Taiwan.

The mutation was also detected in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile and Australia.

The number of countries preventing travelers from Britain from entering their borders has also increased to more than 40, while some countries impose restrictions on travelers who have visited countries where the mutation was discovered in recent weeks.

The mutated coronavirus is characterized by a greater ability to spread, which enhances the possibility of high numbers of infections in any country it reaches, but it has not yet been proven that it leads to more serious symptoms or death.

Mutations are a key feature in most known types of viruses, which may raise concern about the effectiveness of vaccines and treatments that scientists are developing to combat them.

In South Africa, another version of the virus appeared that shares one of the mutations that were detected in the virus detected in Britain, and was discovered in 90 percent of the samples whose genetic sequence has been analyzed since mid-November.

The British authorities said that they had detected two cases of the type that was identified in South Africa, and the two infected people had contact with people who had traveled to Britain from South Africa in recent weeks, and that Switzerland, Finland, Australia, Zambia and France also discovered this type.

Dec. 24, the Director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, announced the discovery of another mutation of the coronavirus in Nigeria.