New corona variant B117 detected in five people, three of them children

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Two weeks after the first alarm call from the British government, it is clear: the corona mutation B117 has reached Austria.
The South African variant was detected in a 30-year-old Austrian woman who had returned from vacation in the African country on December 6. She was in home quarantine for 18 days with mild symptoms.
The British variant has surfaced four times so far: in an adult Austrian who arrived on one of the last planes from London on December 21, and in three children between the ages of nine and 12. Contact tracing has worked well for all of them, and there have been no infections in the family.
According to expert Andreas Bergthaler, the finding that “the virus itself is actually more infectious” is becoming stronger. Initial data would show that we are dealing with somewhat higher viral loads. There may also be more infections in younger age groups, he said. According to current knowledge, the course of the disease itself is no different from that of the original virus variant.
According to Minister Anschober, special measures are not planned for the time being. The existing entry regulations will be maintained. So far, the virus has been detected in 32 countries, some of which have tightened measures due to the mutation. The variants are not expected to have any effect on the effectiveness of vaccination.