The British variant, which now represents more than 20% of recorded cases of COVID-19 in Germany, is on the way to becoming “dominant” there, the Minister of Health, Jens Spahn warned on Wednesday.
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“We are particularly concerned about the variant discovered in the UK. Two weeks ago, this variant represented just under 6% of the samples examined. In the meantime, it has grown to over 20, to over 22%, ”the minister said at a press conference.
German health authorities analyzed around 23,000 positive PCR tests and sequenced the virus to determine this proportion.
“This means that, as has already been observed in other countries, the proportion of infections with this variant of the virus roughly doubles every week. It is to be expected that it will also become dominant in our country ”, warned the Minister of Health.
The proportion of the South African variant is at a much lower level, at around 1.5%, he said.
Germany has since Sunday introduced controls at several of its borders to counter these variants, sparking criticism in Europe.
After weeks of restrictions, including school closings, the number of infections is down and the incidence rate fell to 57 per 100,000 on Wednesday.
“This means that our protective measures are working,” said Spahn.