- We have also seen this mutated virus with us.
So far, it is not the dominant virus.
Despite this, we must take the threat of the mutated virus very seriously, says German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a press conference.
Merkel will participate together with Stefan Löfven and other European ministers in a web summit on Thursday evening.
New restrictions
Ahead of the summit, the European Commission has called on the member states to carry out more virus analyzes in order to be able to follow developments.
In several countries, new societal restrictions have been introduced.
In Belgium, the authorities are considering completely sonic banning unnecessary travel abroad ahead of future sports holidays.
In Portugal, schools are starting to close.
- We have some indicators that are very ominous.
The proportion of positive tests is very high and there are signs that the British variant is already over 13 percent, says Portugal's Minister of Health Maria Temido during a press conference.
In Sweden, 55 new cases of the mutated virus have so far been confirmed.
In the UK, the results of a new large study conducted by Imperial College are worrying, during the first ten days of the third shutdown, no signs of a reduction in the number of infections were seen in London.
Vaccine pass on the agenda
Among other things, the leaders of the EU countries are expected to discuss the proposal for a "vaccine passport" to facilitate travel in the future, not least with a view to this summer's tourist season.
So far, however, it is mostly a matter of working out what a joint certificate could look like.
- We received a message from the Commission which said that we need a common EU approach on this issue in order to be able to get a certification that can be reliable, that people trust and that is also verifiable.
And we will arrange that, EU Minister Hans Dahlgren (S) promises at a press conference together with Löfven.