COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Denmark has identified 33 infections with the new variant of the coronavirus that has been spreading rapidly in parts of Britain, according to authorities.
The State Serum Institute (SSI), Denmark’s infectious disease authority, said in a report published on Wednesday that the cases had been found in COVID-19 tests carried out between Nov. 14 and Dec. 14.
Denmark, an international leader in genome sequencing, has so far analysed genetic material from 7,805 positive tests in that period, meaning the variant was found in about 0.4% of the infections.
Since just 13.5% of all the positive tests in the period have been analysed so far, the SSI said that variant percentage could change.
“The latest sequencing results indicate that there is societal infection in Denmark with the new English virus variant, albeit at a very low level,” the SSI said.
Denmark, like several other countries, has suspended flights from Britain, where the new variant of the virus – thought to be more transmissible than others circulating – has spread quickly in southern England, including London.
Preliminary information did not suggest the 33 people who contracted the variant had any connection to England or had been travelling in other countries, the SSI said.
(Reporting by Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Pravin Char)
