display
Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - A possible further spread of the coronavirus mutation known from Great Britain in North Rhine-Westphalia cannot yet be assessed, according to the state Ministry of Health, due to a lack of sufficient knowledge.
Therefore, further investigations would be carried out, said a spokeswoman for the ministry on Wednesday at the request of the German press agency.
Laboratories, the Virological Institute at the Charité and a pilot project of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) are involved in the nationwide analyzes of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
After the first detection of the mutated coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 in a person in the Viersen district, there was no further evidence in North Rhine-Westphalia.
"So far, one case of a person infected with the SARS-CoV-2 variant from North Rhine-Westphalia is known," said the ministry spokeswoman.
The case became known at the end of December.
As the district of Viersen announced at the time, the infected person was a 58-year-old who fell ill at the beginning of December and has since recovered.
The man got infected from a colleague from the Czech Republic.
A spokeswoman for the RKI also announced on Wednesday at the request of the German Press Agency: "We have not become aware of any other cases in North Rhine-Westphalia so far."
According to the NRW Ministry of Health, the increasing spread of the mutated coronavirus variant B.1.1.7 has been reported from Great Britain since mid-December 2020, which presumably has the potential of a higher transferability of the infectious agent.
In Germany, it was detected in individual patients in several federal states in December.
display
According to the Viersen district, the man's infection with a mutated coronavirus variant was subsequently discovered through a random sample from the RKI.
During his infection, all other family members in his household were also sick with corona.
"We are relatively sure that the people had what the man had," said the spokeswoman for the district on Wednesday when asked.
The normal laboratory results do not determine whether it is a mutated variant.
"This family has not come into contact with others," emphasized the spokeswoman.
Therefore one assumes that the mutated variant did not spread from the family.
Everyone has recovered, there is contact with the health department.