A variant of the English virus has been detected in two travelers to Norway



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The mutated virus has been detected in Norway, says FHI.

The new variant of the UK coronavirus has been discovered in two Norwegian municipalities. One of them is Kinn, municipal chief physician Jan Helge Dale confirms to NRK.

– This afternoon I received a phone call from a doctor at the National Institute of Public Health, that one of the samples taken in the municipality of Kinn, was positive in the mutated variant that is based in England, Dale tells NRK.

The person who is infected in Kinn must have come to Norway for a family visit in mid-December, Dale says.

He tells VG that the other person will stay in Oslo, but this has not been confirmed by the Oslo municipality. NRK writes the same.

FHI first stated that both people were tested after they developed symptoms, but the department has removed this from the press release.

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– Infection detection teams in municipalities will now follow up according to current routines for people diagnosed with the English variant of the virus, with additional tests and closer monitoring of close contacts to reduce the risk of a possible further spread, says the director of the Line Vold department of the National Institute of Public Health in the press release.

Currently, only in parts of England is the variant considered to have contributed to the rapid growth of the epidemic, according to FHI. Research is still underway to be able to say something more true about it.

In Denmark, the virus has been present for several weeks without changing the infection situation.

– There are reasons to be cautious, but at the same time it is not yet known what role the variant plays in the spread of the infection, says Vold and continues:

– The usual measures against the epidemic, such as staying home when sick, conducting tests, monitoring infections and quarantine, keeping distance and fewer participants in meetings will be important infection control measures also against this variant.

For privacy reasons, the NIPH has not wanted to publish information on the nationality, sex, age, place of residence, itinerary, date of travel or the test municipality of the travelers, but according to the municipal chief physician of Kinn, one person belongs to his municipality and the other to Oslo.

Vold informs NRK that these are two people who belong to two different municipalities.

FHI reports that it has strengthened virus change tracking to detect the English virus variant and any other new virus variant that may have altered infectivity or other properties. Additional measures have also been implemented at the borders to reduce the risk of further introduction of the new virus and other viruses.

The British medical journal BMJ notes that there is so far no evidence that the mutated virus is more deadly or that it has undergone such major changes that treatment methods or vaccines are affected.

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