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Schwerin (dpa / mv) - In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, indications of the British corona mutation B.1.1.7 have been found for the first time.
There are twelve positive laboratory results nationwide, as the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday evening in Schwerin.
Seven of them were found in the district of Northwest Mecklenburg, three in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district and two in the Rostock district.
In the cases examined, the positive results were re-examined.
The laboratory results would now have to be examined further using what is known as full sequencing.
"This makes it clear that our federal state is unlikely to be spared the mutations," Health Minister Harry Glawe (CDU) is quoted in a statement.
"It is necessary that samples are examined further so that we have a status on the spread of the virus mutations in the population," the minister said.
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How old the affected people are and when further results will be available is still unclear, said a ministry spokesman for the dpa.
Glawe emphasized that the findings so far would suggest that the approved corona vaccines are effective against this virus variant.
With viruses, random changes in the genetic material, called mutations, occur constantly.
Some give the pathogen advantages - for example by making it easier to transmit.
The British variant is considered to be significantly more contagious than the previously known Covid-19 virus.
The British variant has already been proven in several federal states.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210128-99-213909 / 2