Since June, 214 people in Denmark have tested positive for a variant of the coronavirus mutated in mink, according to data from the Danish Statens Serum Institut on Friday. Previously, only 12 infections could be traced to a mink farm.
On Wednesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that all seventeen million will become minks in the country finished for fear of further spread. A day later she announced regionale lockdowns for seven congregations in the north of the country.
Frederiksen fears that the mutated virus could make a future corona vaccine less effective. The animals serve as a ‘reservoir’ for the virus, according to the WHO health organization.
In the Netherlands too, persistent infections in mink have been detected in recent months. Mink farms have therefore been cleared on a large scale. Minister Hugo de Jonge (Public Health) announced on Wednesday that the cabinet has not yet received any signals that the virus has also mutated in this way in the Netherlands.
– .
