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Countries bar UK travel to block new COVID strain
Mutations are common
It s not unusual to discover such a mutation. In China, for example, where the pandemic originated in late 2019, a new variant of the pathogen was already circulating six months ago. In the summer, another variant spread rapidly from Spain to half of Europe. Viruses mutate all the time, and in most cases these mutations have no or only minimal effects.
Despite all attempts at isolation, the mutation now confirmed in southern England has also long since spread to mainland Europe and other parts of the world, according to Christian Drosten, virologist at the Charite Hospital in Berlin. The virus has been present in England since at least late September, he said. We know now: it s already in Italy, in the Netherlands, in Belgium, in Denmark even in Australia. Why shouldn t it be in Germany?