New variant triggers Sjælland outbreak

Danish health authorities scrambling to contain infections

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Denmark’s Health Minister Magnus Heunicke is calling an outbreak of coronavirus infections involving a new variant in north Sjælland “a situation.”

The Danish Agency for Patient Safety (Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed) says there were initially more than 50 infections, a number it now says is increasing. The outbreak originated at a restaurant and involves the B.1.1.519 variant first found in Mexico last fall. The variant was, at one point, the dominate strain accounting for over 80% of all positive sequenced infections in Mexico.  

On the advice of the Staten Serum Institut, Styrelsen for Patientsikkerhed has stepped up efforts to find and isolate all close contacts of the infected. Magnus Heunicke says they are currently looking for the close contacts of 17 new infection cases. 

As for what we know about the variant, Mexican authorities determined it was more infectious than the original coronavirus strain, spreading quickly to become the dominate strain in the country. It does not appear to be vaccine resistant according to STPS on the mutation’s response to vaccines saying that “it is not assessed differently from common corona virus.”