Denmark is currently sequencing virtually every positive SARS-CoV-2 sample for mutations. The British B.1.1.7 variant of the virus is dominant and leads to 60 percent more hospital admissions because of Covid-19. That said on Monday Kare Molbak from the Danish Statens Serum Institute at an online event organized by the Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES).
“We have carried out a study and see an increased transfer rate with the B.1.1.7 variant. We also see a 1.6-fold increase in the hospitalization rate. This creates fear that the hospital system will come under greater stress even if the number of infections remains the same, ”said Molbak. Overall, Denmark was less affected by the second wave of the disease at the end of 2020 than Italy or Austria. In the Scandinavian country, a peak value of around 4,000 positive SARS-CoV-2 tests was registered on individual days.
According to Molbak, the test rate is very high. “We perform around a million PCR tests per week. Virtually every positive sample is also sequenced, ”emphasized the expert. B.1.1.7 is already responsible and dominant for the vast majority of infections.
Double the test frequency means 62 percent more cases
Interesting are the calculations that have been made on the connection between the increase in the CoV test frequency and the actual epidemiological development around Covid-19 in Denmark. A doubling of the number of tests leads to the discovery of 62 percent more Covid-19 cases. „The correlation between the number of examinations carried out and the epidemiology is a factor of 0.7. Thus, an increase in the test frequency and thus an“ automatic “ higher number of documented infections does not automatically assume a strictly parallel development of the infections.
Culls of 17 million mink ended animal-to-human transmission
Denmark was successful in eliminating a potentially enormously important transmission path for CoV from animals to humans via the mink farms that were once prosperous in the country. The expert: “The American minks grown on the farms are apparently the perfect host organism for CoV. 290 mink farms were affected by the outbreaks. 25 to 50 percent of those employed there became infected. “
From June to September 2020, attempts were made in Denmark to contain the outbreak on fur farms through strict controls and local or regional measures. That failed. “Three million mink were infected. In November the decision was made to cull all 17 million animals, ”said Molbak. This completely stopped this transmission route. Before the pandemic, 40 percent of the mink skins on the world market came from Denmark.
