Virologist: British Virus Variant Already in Belgium

The more contagious British variant of the coronavirus has already penetrated all over Belgium.

 

The hundred infections that have been detected so far is, in reality, many times higher, thinks the Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst. Two schools near Antwerp where the mutant has emerged have now had to close.

The dreaded variant is currently most commonly found in Brussels and Antwerp and even in the West Flemish countryside. Therefore “we should not be naive and think that the British variant is not all over the country”, says Van Ranst.

By further restricting travel, Belgium hoped to at least delay the entry of the virus variant, which has been unprecedented in the United Kingdom for weeks.

But last weekend it turned out that the mutation was circulating at a primary school in Edegem and a secondary school in Kontich. Schools are closed, and students, their families and school staff are in quarantine.

The virus entered the schools by people travelling, the mayors say to Antwerp’s Radio 2.