The corona mutation B117 is not only spreading in Great Britain.
Germany is also affected.
Experts are sounding the alarm and this time calling for faster reactions.
Munich / London - The news comes in droplets, in
Corona times *
you suspect that this dose can also be dangerous.
A first case of the
corona mutation B117 * appeared
in Bavaria, the state government reported on Wednesday.
A second case, the authorities added on Thursday.
A third is still being examined in the laboratory.
Quarantine was
imposed
in all cases
.
But that is fatally reminiscent of Corona a year ago: one, two, three - and then thousands.
Since at least November,
virologists have been
warning
that the rest of Europe is underestimating the British mutation B117.
First in London, then in all parts of the country, the
corona numbers have
skyrocketed since the mutation prevailed.
Over 60,000 cases
are currently
reported
daily
, plus
four-digit deaths
, and the public health service sounded the alarm on Thursday about lack of beds.
Corona mutation also detected in Bavaria: significantly more contagious than the original virus
The mutation is considered
50 to 70 percent more contagious *
.
There are significantly more transmissions,
especially among
young people
, warned a British group of experts advising the government.
B117 is not more deadly than the dominant variant in Europe, and at least the
Biontech vaccine is
also effective
.
But this leads to a
dangerous underestimation of
the mutated virus.
Calculated over a month, a 50 percent more contagious coronavirus costs over
ten times more additional human lives
than an equally contagious virus that is 50 percent more deadly.
That sounds strange - but it is pure mathematics, a British epidemiologist presented in a
model calculation
.
+
A new intruder in Bavaria: Prime Minister Markus Söder now also has to deal with the Corona variant B117.
© Michael Kappeler / afp
Corona mutation in Bavaria: Söder has "great concern" - Merkel sees "new and special situation"
This has slowly spread into the political debate.
On Tuesday,
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU)
argued
offensively with B117 to justify the
tightened lockdown
.
"This mutated virus is very worrying because it is more aggressive in spreading." The country could face a lot.
Chancellor Angela Merkel * (CDU)
said she now sees a "new and special situation".
The hope that B117 would
not come to Europe
because of the
largely closed borders
with Great Britain is deceptive.
Denmark
is now feeling the effects of this: there were almost 100 such cases, and the trend is growing exponentially.
In the course of February, the new variant could dominate, warn researchers.
Denmark tightened its lockdown again.
Corona mutation in Bavaria: Virologist recommends a strict lockdown
The German
virologist Isabella Eckerle
warns in increasingly dramatic words in interviews and social networks that B117 is underestimated.
"The
danger posed by the new virus variant *
is not being taken seriously, we are again waiting until it is too late and again ignoring the voice of science." A glance at Great Britain "should be enough to see what we are slipping towards".
She advises the strictest
possible lockdown
.
Two Munich experts also recommend
Tempo
.
"With the more contagious mutant, a
new pandemic
begins,
" write LMU risk researchers Nikil Mukerji and Adriano Mannino in the
Tagesspiegel
.
B117 has very likely already spread.
The more important a
quick vaccination is
, the more dangerous the
European procurement policy
.
Buying too many or ineffective vaccines is "a bargain in relation to the hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of long-term injuries and trillions of economic value" in Europe.
(cd) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network
List of rubric lists: © Michael Kappeler / afp
