Fur flies as new virus strain found in minks
COPENHAGEN: In a terrifying new development in the pandemic crisis, Denmark is racing to contain a new and mutated version of the coronavirus that has spread from minks to humans – potentially rendering all the vaccines in development around the world useless.
The shocking revelation comes as the World Health Organisation has warned of an “explosion” in COVID-19 infections in Europe.
England is back in full lockdown and Romania is the latest country to impose tough new restrictions to counter the second wave washing over the continent.
But as much of the world has been forced to become accustomed to the concept of lockdowns as we wait, hope and pray for a vaccine, the news from Denmark has sparked a new global fear.
While no more severe
than the normal virus, the mutated version found in mink farms “could pose a risk that future vaccines won’t work,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Friday.
In a bid to stop this new strain from spreading, Ms Frederiksen announced a “real closure” of the north Jutland region, where the new mutated mink version of f the coronavirus has been detected in 11 people.
More than 280,000 people in seven areas of north Jutland were told to stay home, while bars and restaurants were closed, public transport shut down and people ordered not to travel there.
“We are asking you in north Jutland to do something extraordinary – the eyes of the world are on us,” Ms Frederiksen said.
Health authorities in north Jutland believe about 5 per cent of coronavirus patients could be carrying the mutated strain, although no recent case has been reported.
Denmark, the world’s largest exporter of mink fur, had earlier said it would cull all of its minks, estimated to be as many as 17 million.
WHO’s regional director for Europe Hans Kluge said there had been a COVID-19 “explosion” on the continent as its 11.6 million infections surge past Latin America and the Caribbean’s 11.4 million.
“We do see an explosion,”
he said. “It only takes a couple of days to have, in the European region, an increase of one million cases.”
But he said closing schools should be seen as a last resort “because we cannot afford a COVID-19 lost generation”.
The UN will hold a special session in New York next month to discuss improving international co-ordination in response to the pandemic.
In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for a united effort to tackle spiking infection rates, as 56 million people in England went into a second lockdown.
The renewed stay-athome restrictions and business closures are set to last for four weeks, but they have been met with scepticism that they can halt the worst death toll from the virus in Europe.
Simon Stevens, the head of the state-run National Health Service, said hospital
admissions had shot up from below 500 in early September to more than 11,000.
The Bank of England unveiled an extra £150bn ($270bn) in economic support, on top of new Treasury measures to subsidise the wages of furloughed English workers until March.
The government also announced that all passengers arriving in Britain from Germany and Sweden must selfisolate for 14 days.
In Greece, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced a three-week lockdown starting on Friday.
“It was a difficult decision,” he said, adding that kindergartens and primary schools would remain open.
Romania, meanwhile, imposed a night-time curfew and online classes for schoolchildren, and made face masks obligatory as the country nears 10,000 new daily cases.