Germany Confirms Coronavirus Variant's Arrival

The Medical University of Hanover (MHH) determined the virus variant B1.1.7 retrospectively in a case of infection from November 2020, the German Ministry of Health announced. The reference laboratory of the Berlin Charité confirmed the result, reported Welt.de on December 28, 2020.

In Germany, virus variant B1.1.7 was also found in a woman who flew from London to Frankfurt on December 20th.

The first case of the SARS-CoV-2 variant has been traced back to September 2020 in the south of England by the UK health system. This indicates there was ample time for it to mutated virus to spread undetected around the world. As of December 29th, more than 20 countries and territories have confirmed cases of the highly-infectious virus variant.

The U.S. CDC stated on December 28, 2020, 'Recent reports indicate that the new variant causes about 6 in 10 cases reported in London. Genetic analysis of the new variant shows changes to the virus's spikes and other parts of the virus. Initial studies suggest that the new variant may spread more easily from person to person. So far, scientists in the UK see no evidence that infections by this variant cause more severe disease.'