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Corona mutation: Drosten with gloomy assessment of new findings - "unfortunately does not look good" 

2020-12-22T14:20:25.290Z


Europe's airports are closing. The reason is a coronavirus mutation that occurred there. But how dangerous is it? Experts give an assessment.


Europe's airports are closing.

The reason is a coronavirus mutation that occurred there.

But how dangerous is it?

Experts give an assessment.

  • The fear of an even faster spread of the

    coronavirus is

    growing.

  • A

    virus mutation

    in the UK makes for tough measures.

  • Virologist

    Christian Drosten

    has a clear opinion.

Update from December 22nd, 7.46 a.m.:

The possibly dangerous

corona virus line B.1.1.7 *

is currently much discussed.

Now there are new findings: virologist

Christian Drosten

published the first results of a British investigation on

Twitter

.

He writes: “Unfortunately that doesn't look good.

It is positive that cases with the mutant only increased in areas where the overall incidence was high or rising. ”His conclusion:“ Contact reduction also works against the spread of the mutant. ”

New data on the B.1.1.7 mutant (published today).

Unfortunately, that doesn't look good.

On the positive side, cases with the mutant have so far only increased in areas where the overall incidence was high or rising.

Contact reduction also works against the spread of the mutant.

https://t.co/s3Wd3X7ukF

- Christian Drosten (@c_drosten) December 21, 2020

In the post he refers to an initial result of an investigation that the British government had commissioned.

The

study

comes to the preliminary conclusion that the new mutation of

Sars-CoV-2

may be

more contagious,

alone or in combination with

other mutations

.

In addition,

B.1.1.7

is known to be

most common in London and the south-west and east regions of England.

The study was commissioned by the UK Ministry of Health and is based on genomic data from the

county of Kent

in the south-east of England.

The mutation is also making the situation even more tense in Germany.

Lothar Wieler assumes with a high probability that the new virus form is already rampant in Germany.

The President of the RKI commented on this in a press conference.

Corona: Mutation spreads probably 70 percent faster

First report from December 21:

Munich - After

a

mutation of

the

corona virus

* was

discovered

in

Great Britain

,

Europe

seals itself off

from the British island.

According to

initial estimates

, the new

virus variant is

spreading

70 percent faster

than the previous corona

virus

.

Therefore, some states pulled the emergency brake * and issued a

flight and entry ban

for people coming from Great Britain.

Lauterbach fears “catastrophe” for Germany due to Corona mutation

Also

SPD

* -Politiker Karl Lauterbach

is concerned.

"

If it came now

that we are in the middle of the second wave, where we have such high case numbers, it

would be a disaster,

" said the health expert at

Bild

about the new

coronavirus

* variant

.

“It's so similar to having a fire and pouring gasoline again,” said Lauterbach, describing the possible consequences.

The fact that the

corona mutation

* will

also

occur

in

Germany

cannot be prevented.

It may already be in circulation in this country.

“We don't know for sure whether it's already in Germany.

We haven't been able to check that yet, ”Lauterbach continued.

New coronavirus variant: virologist Christian Drosten "not so worried"

Virologist Christian Drosten

even assumes that the virus variant from Great Britain has

long since arrived in Germany

.

Only evidence of this is still missing.

Nevertheless, Drosten reassured the

Deutschlandfunk

: "I'm

not that worried about that

at the moment."

According to Drosten,

the origin of the coronavirus variant

has

yet to be clarified

.

“This virus isn't all that new now,” said Drosten.

"You really shouldn't let that disturb you in any way."

The virologist said that the mutation

was

discovered

in Great Britain in September

.

It also spread in

Australia

, the

Netherlands

and

Denmark

.

However, the consequences were not as dramatic as they are currently in southern England.

Coronavirus mutation in the UK: Italy also confirms cases

The Italian Ministry of Health has since confirmed that the

virus mutation

observed in Great Britain was 

 also

 detected

in 

Italy

.

Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn mentioned cases in

Denmark

on ZDF 

, which, according to Danish authorities, are under control.

MEP Peter Liese spoke of proven infections in 

Belgium 

and the 

Netherlands

.

Is the corona mutation actually

70 percent more contagious

than the original virus variant?

Lauterbach did

not

want to commit himself to

Bild

.

It should be

clarified are not limited to

,

“Whether the mutation is as contagious as we suspect.” He considers a higher degree of

infection

*

to be likely.

(1) This is a very relevant document.

With this information, it seems very likely that the mutation VUI-202212/01 is significantly more contagious.

Higher R-value, faster spread, higher virus detection.

Hopefully this is not yet widespread with us.

What to do?

https://t.co/EtLA1o1q1w

- Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) December 20, 2020

Drosten was more reserved.

"This number was simply called that," he said in an interview with

Deutschlandfunk

.

The

70 percent value is

still

based on estimates

.

And because the data collected are still very incomplete, Drosten continues, the contagious value cannot be

scientifically proven

*

.

(kh) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network

List of rubric lists: © Michael Kappeler / dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-12-22

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