COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – More than a quarter of a million Danes went to a lockdown in a northern region of the country on Friday where mutants bred for its fur were infected due to mutations in the coronavirus, causing millions of animals to die. .
Prime Minister Matt Frederickson said the move was to contain the virus, and came two days after the government ordered the removal of all 15 million tankers raised on Denmark’s 1,139 mink farms.
The coronavirus is constantly evolving and, to date, there is no evidence that any mutations increase the risk to humans. But the Danish authorities did not take any chances.
“It’s better to act quickly than to wait for the evidence,” said Tyra Grove Krauss, head of the state agency Serum Institute, which maps the spread of coronavirus in Denmark.
As many as 280,000 residents in seven northern Danish municipalities have been suspended from sports and cultural activities, public transport has been shut down and regional borders have been closed. Only people with so-called “complex tasks” such as police and health officials and various officials are being allowed to cross municipal boundaries.
The people of the region have been urged to test. By Saturday, restaurants must be closed, and fifth-grade and higher school students will switch to remote learning on Monday.
“We must completely eradicate this variety of virus,” Health Minister Magnus Hunick said Thursday, adding that the mutated virus has been found in 12 people.
Denmark launched millions of mints in the north of the country last month after it reported a COVID-19 infection among its stocks. Across the country, at least 216 of Denmark’s 1,139 fur farms are now infected.
Carrie Mollbeck of the Statins Serum Institute said the virus variant was reported in August and September, and no change has been found since, so it is not known if it still exists. The mutated virus was found in five mink farms, the government agency said.
WHO officials said it was necessary to evaluate each case to determine whether any changes meant the virus was behaving differently.
“We have a long way to go before we can make such a decision,” said Mike Rhea, WHO’s head of emergency. He said such mutations always occur in viruses.
“The evidence we have right now does not suggest that this type of behavior is any different,” he said.
Peter Ben Amberek, a WHO expert on food safety, said preliminary studies of pigs, chickens and cattle breeding “show that these species are not as sensitive as mink. So even if these animals are infected, they will not be able to sustain and spread the disease in the same way. ”
Britain said on Friday that people coming from Denmark should be self-isolated for 14 days, which would add the country to the list of countries considered dangerous.
The Danish government said the virus mutation was seen in people infected by 12 monks, who ordered farmers to control the mass, but experts said the importance of any strain and its effect on humans was unclear as it was still pending. Can be studied.
Denmark, the world’s largest mink fur exporter, produces an estimated 17 million furs each year. Copenhagen Fur, a cooperative of 1,500 Danish breeders, accounts for 40% of global mink production. Most of its exports go to China and Hong Kong.
Mink stripes will be destroyed and Danish fur farmers say this could spell the end of the country’s total industry, costing 5 billion kroner (5 million).
In all, 53,180 cases of coronavirus and 738 deaths have been reported in Denmark.
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The report was contributed by Jamie Kate in Geneva.
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