British virus strain spreading rapidly in Germany: Minister
A more infectious strain of the coronavirus first discovered in Britain is spreading rapidly in Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn warned in Berlin on Wednesday.
The variant, known by the scientific name B117, now accounts for over 22 per cent of infections in the country, as opposed to almost 6 per cent less than two weeks ago, Spahn said, citing data from the nation’s agency for disease control, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
“We must assume that the variant could soon become dominant here too,” the minister told reporters.
The percentage of cases resulting from that strain is said to be doubling every week. The variant is reportedly 35 percent more contagious than earlier coronavirus forms.
Another 1.5 percent of cases are caused by the South African mutation, Spahn added.
According to the RKI, 4,071 suspected cases of the British variant have been reported since the start of the year until February 15, while 347 suspected cases of the South African variant have been recorded so far.The German government recently boosted resources to laboratories for sequencing work in order to get a clearer picture of the spread of coronavirus variants in the country.
On Wednesday, around 1,000 people were placed in quarantine after a mass coronavirus outbreak at an ice cream factory in the German city of Osnabrueck.
Until now, 210 people have tested positive in connection with the outbreak, of which three are said to have caught the more contagious British variant.
The people in isolation were employees at the factory and their relatives, a city spokesperson said.
Production at the factory has been suspended until at least February 26.
Germany is currently under a months-long lockdown that has brought down infection rates considerably this year.
However, Chancellor Angela Merkel and other top government officials have said it is too early to ease restrictions, pointing to the threat posed by more dangerous coronavirus mutations.
The way out of the lockdown must be forged “with particular care,” Spahn said.
The closure of restaurants, high-street retailers and other facilities deemed non-essential was recently extended in large part until March 7, although state administrations have been given the go-ahead to send children back to school sooner. Spahn said this meant that the situation would be closely monitored on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, Germany has introduced tough border restrictions targeting over a dozen countries and regions where dangerous variants of the virus are believed to be widespread.
Those include Britain, Portugal, Brazil and South Africa, as well as neighbouring Czech Republic and the Austrian region of Tyrol.
These rules amount to an entry ban for the vast majority of people from those places, with exceptions for German nationals and foreign residents in Germany, as well as some key workers and hauliers.
The restrictions were also extended this week until at least March 3.
So far, 2.3 million people are known to have caught the coronavirus in Germany, of whom 66,164 died, according to the latest RKI tallies.