China News Agency, Berlin, December 20 (Reporter Peng Dawei) On the 20th, the cumulative number of people diagnosed with the new crown virus in Germany has exceeded 1.5 million.

The German Federal Government announced on the same day that due to the mutation of the new crown virus in the UK, Germany will temporarily ban flights from the UK from December 21 to 31.

Germany will also convene EU member states on the 21st to coordinate the response to the mutation of the new crown virus.

  The German disease control agency announced on the 20th that the number of new confirmed cases was 22,771.

According to real-time data from Germany's "Times Online", as of 18:40 local time on the 20th, a total of 1,508,377 people have been diagnosed, 1,097,228 people have been cured, and 26,642 people have died in Germany.

The German official indicator of "the number of new diagnoses per 100,000 people in seven days" used by the German authorities to evaluate the severity of the epidemic rose to 192.2 on the same day (data from the Department of Disease Control), the highest value since the outbreak.

  According to Reuters, a mutated strain of the new coronavirus has recently appeared in the UK, and its rapid spread has caused a surge in the number of new confirmed cases in the country.

  The German Federal Government issued a press release on the evening of the 20th, stating that in view of a mutation of the new crown virus reported by the UK, Germany has decided to restrict the movement of people from the UK to Germany from the 21st, and all flights from the UK to Germany will be suspended.

Flights that transport mail, cargo or empty flights are not subject to this ban, and flights that transport medical personnel out of public interest are also exempt.

  The above press release quoted the British government as saying that the mutated new coronavirus strain is up to 70% more infectious than the currently common strain.

The German government emphasized that although there is no evidence so far that the new strain will aggravate the symptoms of patients, it may accelerate the spread of the virus in Germany, thereby accelerating the deterioration of the epidemic.

  German Health Minister Span told Deutsche TV that the virus has not been found in Germany so far.

He said that the German federal government plans to issue a decree on the 21st to completely restrict travel between the United Kingdom and South Africa.

South Africa has also recently discovered that there is a mutation of the new coronavirus, and its transmission speed and infectivity have increased significantly.

  Germany is currently holding the rotating presidency of the European Union.

On the 21st, Germany will convene all EU member states to participate in an emergency meeting under the framework of the EU's "Integrated Political Crisis Emergency Response Mechanism" (IPCR) to coordinate the response to the mutation of the new crown virus.

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