FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a new strain of coronavirus that has come from mink in Denmark is “causing concern” as the UK banned visitors from the country.
All non-British national or resident travellers who have been in Denmark at any point over the last two weeks will now be denied entry into the UK.
UK nationals, visa holders and residents returning from Denmark must isolate for 14 days along with their household “without exception”.
The move comes after the Danish government said a mutation of the coronavirus had been found in 12 people infected by minks.
Experts said the significance of any variant strain is not yet clear, but there are concerns it could limit the effectiveness of any potential vaccines.
Another 39 deaths from coronavirus were recorded in Scotland yesterday, an increase in eight from the previous day’s figure.
There were 1596 new cases, with a record-high number of tests reported at 29,644.
Figures also showed there are now 1245 people in hospital with confirmed coronavirus, up eight. Of those, 106 patients were in intensive care as of Friday night, also an increase of eight.
On Twitter, Sturgeon wrote: “A new strain of Covid that has come from mink in Denmark is causing concern.
“If you are a UK resident returning home from Denmark you – and your household – MUST isolate for 14 days.
“Visitors from Denmark are not able to enter the UK at all for now.”
The Danish travel restrictions will remain in place for one week and will then be reviewed.
Work will also be undertaken to contact individuals who have recently arrived in the country from Denmark in the last 14 days to provide further advice and guidance, the Scottish Government has said.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “These steps are a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of a variant strain of coronavirus which we are still in the early stages of learning about.
“The decision has been taken on clinical advice to help further safeguard public health and keep communities safe.”Scotland’s chief medical officer Dr Gregor Smith said:
“This is a new strain and it is appropriate that we err on the side of caution.
“We do not want to see transmission of this strain in this country.”
Yesterday the World Health Organisation said the minks were infected with the virus following exposure from infected humans.
The Danish government has ordered the cull of all 15 million minks bred in the country’s 1139 mink farms.
Ian Jones, professor of virology at University of Reading, said it was hard to comment on specifics regarding mutations as there does not appear to be any report or data on the mink mutation in the public domain.
But he said: “The danger is that the mutated virus could then spread back into man and evade any vaccine response which would have been designed to the original, non-mutated version of the spike protein, and not the mink-adapted version.
“Of course the mink version may not transmit well to man, so it’s a theoretical risk.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel