Two cases with the South African variant of the corona virus have been detected in the district. The Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald health department announced this on Thursday afternoon.
“There are two confirmed cases of the South African variant,” said Matthias Fetterer when asked by BZ. Otherwise, only the British variant has so far been proven in the Freiburg area. According to the health department, their share of new infections is 18.9 percent in the Breisgau Hochschwarzwald district and 16.1 percent in the city of Freiburg.
The virus variant B.1.351, which is circulating in South Africa, was discovered at the end of last year and is now also found in many other countries. As a result, many countries have restricted entry from South Africa, including Germany.
It is not only more infectious, but also more fatal according to initial findings – and in addition, some vaccines were less effective against it, said the Munich infectiologist Clemens Wendtner recently to the dpa. Even those who have already had Corona could probably get infected again.
The rate of secondary infections will therefore likely increase. Meanwhile, a possible adaptation of the vaccine to the variant is already in full swing with several vaccine manufacturers.
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