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The Danish government announced new regional restrictions on Thursday following the discovery of a mutation in the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in mink, which threatens efforts to create an effective vaccine.
A new virus mutation!
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen issued a statement announcing that citizens of North Jutland will not be able to leave their towns for the next four weeks. During all this time the accommodation spaces in the respective area will be closed and all cultural and sports activities will be suspended, but the schools will remain open.
Local authorities are also organizing a massive testing campaign with the aim of testing some 280,000 people.
Early Thursday, Vesthimmerland Mayor Per Bach Laursen said travel restrictions would be imposed on municipalities in northern Denmark beyond county boundaries and bars and restaurants would be closed.
The Copenhagen government announced on Wednesday the slaughter of all mink on farms in the north of the country, after epidemiological investigations into 783 cases of COVID-19 led to a mink farm as a source of contamination. According to the Danish authorities, only 12 people were infected with the new strain.
What is known about the new mutation?
The mutation found could be more resistant to the experimental COVID-19 vaccines and threaten their effectiveness.
According to a report published on Wednesday by the Danish Institute for Infectious Diseases (State Serum Institute – SSI), laboratory tests have revealed that the new strain has mutations in the so-called spike protein, that part of the virus that infects and invades cells. healthy. This poses a risk for future vaccines against the new coronavirus, as they are based on neutralizing the spike protein, explains SSI.
Denmark, the leading producer of mink fur, started slaughtering infected animals in June, but outbreaks on farms persisted. The sacrifice of some 17 million miners will cost the Danish state some 800 million dollars and some lawmakers have asked for “evidence” to support the decision.
“We want to see (the evidence) so we can assess the technical basis,” said a spokesman for the Danish Liberal Party.
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that it was aware of the infection of people with the coronavirus strain found in mink, adding that it was in dialogue with Danish authorities.
Meanwhile, Swedish authorities confirmed on Thursday a coronavirus outbreak that affected ten mink farmers in the Blekinge region, Agerpres writes.
