The coronavirus mutation, which already appeared in Great Britain in September, was also detected in Austria for the first time. The genetic material of the virus variant was found in four samples taken at Vienna-Schwechat airport. In another person, the distinctive Sars-CoV-2 variant, which probably originated in South Africa, was also detected. Among the five affected are three children. This was announced at a press conference in Vienna on Monday.
The mutation is now detected in 32 countries, said Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens). Among them are now also 15 European countries – including Austria. The fact that the British B.1.1.7. mutation has now been found is not a coincidence, he said, but rather a “targeted search” for it. Around 1800 sequencing procedures have been carried out in Austria to date, said the health minister. This is now to be intensified.
As Franz Allerberger, head of the “Public Health” department at AGES, explained, the South African mutation was already detected on December 6 in a 30-year-old Austrian woman after a vacation. The UK variant was first detected in a 12-year-old boy after a flight from the UK on December 18, and on December 21 it was detected in a man who arrived in Austria on one of the last flights. In addition, two Slovakian children aged nine and ten had contracted the virus mutation.
- Source – diepresse.at/picture: pixabay.com
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