(Fighting New Coronary Pneumonia) Newly found in Germany an unknown mutant strain, health authorities will strengthen surveillance
China News Agency, Berlin, January 18 (Reporter Peng Dawei) Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, southern Germany, announced on the 18th that a mutant strain of the new crown virus had been found in the samples of 35 local patients.
It is reported that this strain is different from any currently known mutant strain.
Authoritative German research institutions are further analyzing this strain.
The German Ministry of Health said on the same day that it will strengthen virus sequencing and analysis in the country to better monitor the overall situation of the new coronavirus mutation.
On January 5, the cumulative number of people diagnosed with the new crown virus in Germany exceeded 1.8 million.
The picture shows a notice posted on the window of a closed flower shop in Berlin, "City closed due to the second round of lockdown."
Photo by China News Agency reporter Peng Dawei
The German disease control agency announced on the 18th that the number of newly diagnosed new crown virus infections and the death toll were 7,141 and 214 respectively.
As of that day, 1,145,878 people had been vaccinated.
According to real-time data from Germany's "Times Online", as of 18:00 local time on the 18th, Germany had a total of 2,055,966 confirmed cases, 1,691592 cured, and 47,847 deaths.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is located at the southernmost tip of Bavaria in southern Germany, bordering Austria.
According to media reports such as the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation and Süddeutsche Zeitung, the mutant strain was discovered to be a cluster infection that began in a hospital in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
As of that day, a total of 73 patients and staff in the hospital had been infected with the new crown virus, and samples of 35 of them had detected a variant strain that has not been detected so far.
Stockklausner, the person in charge of the hospital involved, said on the same day that three samples of the mutated strain had been sent to the National Laboratory of the Charité Medical School in Berlin for analysis.
He emphasized that it is not clear whether this strain is more contagious than the currently discovered new coronavirus strain or whether it will cause an increase in the rate of severe illness.
The Garmisch-Partenkirchen County Government and related hospitals have stated that the local epidemic situation has not yet been out of control.
The German Federal Ministry of Health issued a new decree on the same day that requires strengthening the surveillance of mutant strains of the new coronavirus.
In the future, all the results of the new coronavirus gene sequencing performed by laboratories and testing institutions in Germany must be transmitted to the Robert Koch Institute, the federal disease control agency.
The government will provide corresponding subsidies for this.
German Health Minister Span stated that Germany already has a network of laboratories to analyze the mutation of the new crown virus, but the network is not yet sufficient to accurately reflect the current situation.
He said that German officials hope to better grasp the current status of the spread of known mutant strains in the country and capture possible new mutant strains.
On the 19th of this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will negotiate epidemic prevention policies with state governors.
German media disclosed that possible measures include extending the current "city closure" measures, imposing a curfew, and requiring public transportation to wear N95 masks.
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