Covid 19 coronavirus: Rise of variants in Europe shows how dangerous the virus can be
11 Apr, 2021 07:42 PM
5 minutes to read
An empty Champs Elysees avenue as the 7pm curfew in Paris, France, began again last month. Photo / AP
An empty Champs Elysees avenue as the 7pm curfew in Paris, France, began again last month. Photo / AP
New York Times
By: Josh Holder, Allison McCann and Benjamin Mueller
Europe, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic last spring, has once again swelled with new cases, which are inundating some hospitals there and driving a worrisome global surge of Covid-19. But this time, the threat
Rise of variants in Europe shows how dangerous the virus can be
bostonglobe.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bostonglobe.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Overreaction or honesty? Why Scandinavia suspended AstraZeneca vaccinations
euronews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from euronews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Science s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation
On its face, the curve of COVID-19 infections in Denmark looks reassuring enough. A nationwide lockdown has led numbers to plummet from more than 3000 daily cases in mid-December 2020 to just a few hundred now. But don t be fooled. “Sure, the numbers look nice,” says Camilla Holten Møller of the Statens Serum Institute, who heads a group of experts modeling the epidemic. “But if we look at our models, this is the calm before the storm.”
That s because the graph really reflects two epidemics: one, shrinking fast, that s caused by older variants of SARS-CoV-2, and a smaller, slowly growing outbreak of B.1.1.7, the variant first recognized in England and now driving a big third wave of the pandemic there. If B.1.1.7 keeps spreading at the same pace in Denmark, it will become the dominant variant later this month and cause the overall number of cases to rise again, despite the lockdown, Holten Møller s