The corona virus also spreads in Europe. A Brit has infected at least ten other people - including relatives. He was given an unflattering nickname.
- The corona virus * has infected more than 30 people in Europe.
- A British businessman ignorantly infected at least ten people - including relatives.
- France and Great Britain take special precautions in the course of the case.
Munich - The corona virus and its danger to humans has been underestimated for a long time and probably played down. Whether to avoid panic or because the extent was actually not fully understood. There are now more than 30 cases of infected people in Europe , of which Germany has the most to complain about. A visit from a Chinese colleague to the particularly troubled automotive supplier Webasto in Stockdorf in Upper Bavaria is the trigger.
The UK and France also have a similar case. Here, a businessman from East Sussex in southeast England infected at least ten people, the Guardian reports. That is why he is already dubbed "Super Spreaders" on the island - a somewhat unflattering nickname.
Coronavirus: British meet representatives from Wuhan at conference in Singapore
The man, who is not described in detail, was in his 50s and attended a conference on sales strategies in Singapore from January 20 to 22. At that time, many travelers to Asia were not yet alarmed about the corona virus. A representative from Wuhan was said to have attended the appointment. The city where the virus apparently started. The Brit must have been infected during his stay, but did not notice anything at first. According to current knowledge, the incubation period is at least two weeks.
Unfortunately, after returning to Europe, the businessman from England went on a skiing holiday with his family in the French Alps near Mont Blanc. From January 24th to 28th, he just wanted to relax and do some sport after the trip across half the globe. At the end of the stay, five of his relatives were infected, including a nine-year-old boy.
Les Contamines-Montjoie: The sick businessman and his family stayed here.
© AFP / ALEX MARTIN
Coronavirus: Another five vacationers are infected in the ski area
But that's not all: other holidaymakers also contracted the life-threatening virus during their time in the ski resort of Les Contamines-Montjoie . The disease was diagnosed in a British man living in Mallorca, who spent a few days in the mountains with his family. Four other British people - three men and one woman - are also affected, two of whom work in the healthcare sector. They too must have come into contact with the businessman during the vacation.
The so-called “super broader” flew back home from Geneva and visited a pub in the town of Hove on the south coast of England on the evening of February 1st. Only then did he get the information that a coronavirus infection was present during the conference in Singapore . The Briton reacted just right, so he turned to the health authority to be tested - with the result that he carried the coronavirus. Britain officially had its first case since the outbreak of the infection .
Coronavirus: Pub staff asked for self-isolation out of caution
Now all the levers were set in motion to check who the man had come in contact with and who he might have been infected with. Five employees of the pub in Hove were asked to isolate themselves.
France was also affected as a result of the skiing holiday. According to French Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn, six other British citizens would be examined in French clinics . Two schools were closed as a precaution because the infected nine-year-old had attended them.
St. Thomas's Hospital in London: this is where the British businessman is treated.
© AFP / DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS
Coronavirus: Air travelers from Geneva to Gatwick were at risk
The businessman is currently being treated in the isolation ward at St. Thomas's Hospital in London as long as he poses a threat to the general public. But it is quite possible that he has already infected other people. Passengers on flight EZS8481 from Geneva to Gatwick (London) on January 28 , which the Briton also used, were at risk.
The man from East Sussex can hardly be accused. He was simply not aware of the illness that he spread. And special arrangements for trips to Asia were not common at the time of the Singapore conference.
Dr. Andrew Freedman, an infectious disease expert at Cardiff University, still puts his finger in the wound: “It is not really surprising, but it looks like the original case passed its infection on to an unusually large number of people . He can therefore be described as a 'super spreading agent'. ”Who can only hope that in the end it will turn out lightly for all those infected by him.
Merkur.de * explains what is behind the mysterious lung epidemic in China. In this article we tell you what symptoms you should see a doctor about. We also provide an overview of the chronology of the deadly pathogen.
* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
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