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Coronapandemie
Mutated virus threatens Europe, but Switzerland is waiting for now
The new variant of the coronavirus is spreading rapidly in Britain. Several countries have cut off all connections to the island.
But there is no Christmas relief for the British: Prime Minister Boris Johnson declares war on the mutated virus.
Frustration instead of celebration: As of Saturday, many Britons were still happy with the relief from the lockdown the government had promised them during the holiday season. But now Prime Minister Boris Johnson is massively tightening the Crown screws and has imposed a tough blockade on much of southern England (including London). Meetings with people from other households are, with very few exceptions, prohibited with immediate effect, restaurants and most shops are closed. More than 16 million people are directly affected by the measures.
The reason for this is a new mutation of the coronavirus that is spreading rapidly in the British Isles. The virus variant, which has already been detected in the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia and South Africa, is up to 70 percent more contagious, according to the British government and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, but according to the Current research is no more deadly than the original SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
Almost two-thirds of new infections in Britain are now due to the new variant of the virus.
“The situation is out of control.”
Health Minister Matt Hancock highlighted this on the BBC.
Warns Against Too Serenity: British Health Minister Matt Hancock.
The mutated virus is not just plunging the UK into pre-Christmas chaos. Several European countries reacted immediately to the terrifying news and cut their travel links to the British Isles. The Netherlands, Austria and Italy, among others, have canceled all flights to the island. Belgium closed the railway tunnel on the Eurostar connection. Scotland doubled the number of police on its border.
Last night, the heads of France, Germany and the EU also discussed how to proceed with regard to the mutated virus variant. More travel restrictions and stricter quarantine measures for people arriving from Britain are probably only a matter of time.
Geneva professor criticizes Swiss passivity
Switzerland has not yet taken any concrete action. “We are monitoring the situation,” said a spokeswoman for the Federal Office of Public Health. For many observers, however, that is not enough. Isabella Eckerle, professor at the Center for New Viral Diseases at the Geneva University Hospital, calls on Twitter: “We can only hope that Switzerland will follow suit and not become the distributor of the new variant throughout Europe. Europe must constantly pull in the same direction. “
I wish the #Switzerland and with the currently lax mini-regulations # SARS-CoV-2 # COVID-19 it does not become a distributor of the new variant throughout Europe, for example through ski tourism. Europe must constantly pull in the same direction when it comes to infection control. https://t.co/6mNR6rRvoZ
– Isabella Eckerle (@EckerleIsabella) December 20, 2020
The epidemiologist Marcel Salathé is also attentive to the situation. On Twitter, he highlighted that the new mutation of the virus had not yet occurred in Switzerland.
The good news is: so far, according to British epidemiologists, there is no evidence that the mutated virus is immune to the vaccines that are being administered to millions of people around the world these days.
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