The spread of the corona mutation B1.1.7 has resulted in two more cases identified in Germany. The new corona mutation from Great Britain is said to be even more contagious than normal. The variant has reportedly probably been rampant in Germany since November.

On Wednesday, a woman tested positive for the new virus variant. It seems likely that she contracted the virus from her partner. He had fallen ill with the virus after returning from a business trip in to the UK. Since the woman had already tested positive for Corona before Christmas, her close contacts had already been released from quarantine. The health authorities have now arranged for the contacts to be retested to minimise the risk of further spread.

In Great Britain, the virus variant B1.1.7 is spreading at an accelerated rate among the population and has also been transferred globally. In Japan, there were fears that this mutation would affect the hosting of the delayed 2020 Olympics, now due to commence in July 2021, however the Japanese Prime Minister has confirmed that the event will definitely go ahead as planned.

Researchers at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) have been able to identify the coronavirus variant. This was announced by the public health department in Hanover (Lower Saxony) on Monday. Initially, scientists had assumed that the new virus variant had been brought to Germany by a woman only shortly before Christmas. Now it is known that the British virus variant was already in the country much earlier. The Corona mutations were detected in samples from two cases of infection from November. According to the report, the samples came from a very old Covid patient with previous illnesses who had died in the meantime, as well as from his wife. 

Image by Erik Mclean