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NEW MUTATION: The new variant of the virus in the UK has already been detected in several other parts of the world. Photo: Line Møller
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health claims that two people who traveled from the UK to Norway in December have been diagnosed with the British crown variant.
– Both have been tested after they developed symptoms and then, according to current routines, they will be isolated, writes the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) in a press release Sunday afternoon.
People who have been infected with the new variant of the virus stay in Oslo and in the municipality of Kinn. This was stated by the Kinn municipal chief doctor, Jan Helge Dale, to VG.
VG has not yet received confirmation of this from the Oslo municipality.
One of the two infected will remain in the municipality of Kinn in western Norway, the municipal chief doctor Jan Helge Dale told NRK.
Two weeks ago, the discovery of a new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom caused the capital, London, to close. On December 21, the Norwegian government also decided to temporarily suspend all entries into the country.
Laboratory tests must have indicated that the new mutation in the UK causes the coronavirus 56 percent more contagious.
Previously, the variant had also been estimated to increase infectivity by up to 70 percent.
Currently, only in parts of England is the variant considered to have contributed to the rapid growth of the epidemic. 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, says the director of the department, Line Vold, of the National Institute of Public Health.
INFECTION DETECTION: FHI’s Line Vold says they have implemented infection detection in municipalities where the British virus variant has been detected. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB
However, the British variant of the virus does not appear to pose an increased risk of severe disease and there is currently no indication that it can prevent the effects of the vaccine.
– 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 Vold.
Some cases of the variant have also been detected in other European countries. The British mutation was also detected in Sweden on Saturday.
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You can increase the “R number”
NIPH has previously expressed concern that the so-called “reproductive number” – that is, how many infections are transmitted – may be increased by 0.4 if the variant reaches Norway.
If the reproduction number exceeds 1, therefore, each person will infect more people than the previous one. At this time, the breeding figure in Norway is 0.8, so the variant will be able to increase the figure to 1.2 if it is extended.
– When we have a type of virus that multiplies faster, it is easy for us to get a selection (dominant variant, editor’s note), FHI researcher Geir Bukholm previously told VG.
It is not unknown that viruses mutate and change rapidly. However, what is new about the new British variant is that 17 of the changes in the protein on the surface where the virus binds to the human body must have occurred at the same time, which According to the American epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding, not seen before.
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