COVID-19. Through tears, Danish PM apologizes for killing millions of minks – Observer



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With tears in her eyes and pauses in her speech to stop crying, Mette Frederiksen, Prime Minister of Denmark, apologized for the slaughter of millions of minks after detecting a mutation of the new coronavirus transmissible to humans by these mammals.

“We have two generations of really skilled breeders, father and son, who in a very, very short time saw their life’s work destroyed,” said Frederiksen, after visiting a mink farm last Thursday. “It has been emotional for them and, I’m sorry, for me too,” she continued with tears in her eyes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTcP0EcOx6I

Denmark is the responsible for 40% of world mink fur production, with China and Hong Kong as its main markets. There are 1,139 mink farms in the country, employing about 6,000 people. With the massive slaughter of these mammals, business may be at stake.

It is because of the virus, and I hope there is a little light at the end of the tunnel at this time for the Danish mink farmers, “he justified.

The order to euthanize 17 million minks in the country was given earlier this month, when a mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus found in minks was also found in about two hundred people, which could question the efficacy of a future vaccine. “Infection among mink farms is increasing in number and geographic spread, without preventive measures having worked,” admitted the Danish research center Statens Serum Institut at the time. By the latest count, more than two-thirds of the 17 million minks have been euthanized.

Last week, Danish Agriculture Minister Mogens Jensen resigned after admitting that the government’s order to kill all minks had no legal basis.



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