Seoul, Jan. 07, 2021, SPA -- South Korea's health authorities on Thursday confirmed three more cases of a more contagious variant of the new coronavirus that was first identified in Britain, bringing the variant's total caseload to 15, Yonhap reported. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the three people, all family members of a COVID-19 patient who was infected with the variant, were confirmed to have the new COVID-19 strain. The patient arrived in South Korea from Britain on Dec. 19 last year. The KDCA said it is also conducting further tests on another family member to confirm whether they have been infected with the COVID-19 variant. On Wednesday, South Korea extended the ban on passenger flights departing from Britain, which has been in place since Dec. 23, for another two weeks to block the new virus variant. --SPA 20:38 LOCAL TIME 17:38 GMT 0015 www.spa.gov.sa/w1480637