Germany detects new coronavirus variant linked to Norway, Luxembourg in Halle

Berlin [Germany], February 5 (ANI/Sputnik): A new coronavirus variant, known as B.1.1.6 and previously identified in Norway and Luxembourg, was detected for the first time in Germany, in the central city of Halle, Mayor Bernd Wiegand said on Thursday.
According to Wiegand, one of the employees of a local hospital contracted the new strain.
"This variant, known as Norwegian, or Luxembourgian, also has an extremely high infection rate," the mayor said in a statement.
The B.1.1.6 variant reportedly originated in Luxembourg in late 2020 and it is not yet known if the strain causes more severe disease.
The infected hospital employee is quarantined at home. It is unknown where she may have contracted the new variant.
There are several thousand coronavirus variants circulating around the world but some strains cause more concern among health experts than others, including the UK variant and the South African variant, which are known to be more transmissible. (ANI/Sputnik)