The Danish mink Covid crisis worsens. This is what it means

The Danish mink Covid crisis worsens. This is what it means

Moses Yarborough,

This development came days after the Danish government announced that it plans to execute all of the country’s minks in order to contain the spread.

There are between 15 and 17 million of you in Denmark, while its population is around 5.5 million.

The government said in a statement that the ban went into effect at 4 am on Saturday and means that travelers from Denmark cannot enter the UK. British citizens returning home will be forced into a two-week quarantine, and unlike other quarantine requirements for travelers entering the UK, there will be no exemptions.

Danish Prime Minister Mitt Frederiksen said on Wednesday that the decision to execute the mink came with a “sad heart,” but was necessary based on the recommendation of the health authorities.

What happened in Denmark?

Denmark announced that it will completely cull mink animals after it discovered evidence that the disease that causes the new Corona virus has mutated in the mink, after its transmission through humans. The new variant was also found to have spread to humans, with 214 confirmed infections as of Friday.

The Danish government has also announced restrictions on the seven municipalities in which the new breed was discovered. “The virus has mutated in the mink. The mutated virus has spread to humans,” Fredericksen said.

She said that the Statens Serum Institute, the Copenhagen-based Danish authority that deals with infectious diseases, had found five cases of the virus on mink farms and 12 examples in humans who showed less sensitivity to antibodies. Allowing the virus to spread might limit the effectiveness of future vaccines.

A mink is seen on a farm in Gjol, northern Denmark, on October 9, 2020.

Are mink and covid a problem in other countries?

Yes. Reuters reported that 90,000 mink animals were killed in Spain during the summer after an outbreak of the disease on a farm, and then many workers on the farm were infected. In June, Reuters also reported that 10,000 mother scrubs and about 50,000 mink pups were gassed on a farm in the town of De Mortel, in the south of the Netherlands, as part of the country’s broader campaign to execute around 3,500 minke babies.

What do they do with all kinds of mink?

All Danish minks will be quickly culled in order to stop the spread of the new mutated form of the virus.

If Corona virus mutates, will it affect vaccines?

not nessacary. The vaccine race is currently underway around the world to combat Covid-19. What has been found in the mink is a different type of SARS-CoV-2, which the World Health Organization describes as “the virus that causes COVID-19”.

“The mutations are natural,” WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kikov warned in a press release on Friday.

Science

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *