The Corona mutations are causing concern in Europe and partly because of the variants, Chancellor Merkel has extended the lockdown in Germany. In addition, border controls will be intensified at the borders with the Czech Republic and parts of Austria, as Interior Minister Seehofer announced on Thursday. This is a direct reaction to the fact that in Tyrol and in three regions of the Czech Republic Corona mutations provide for enormously high incidence values.

Moselle also increasingly becoming a hotspot
In France, the variant from Great Britain is currently responsible for 20 to 25 percent of all infections, according to government estimates. The South African and Brazilian variants, on the other hand, are responsible for only about 4 to 5 percent of infections nationwide, Health Minister Olivier Véran said Thursday evening.

There were particularly many cases of the mutations in the Moselle department on the German border, he added. About 300 cases have been identified there within the past four days, traced to the Brazilian and South African variants. Véran planned to visit the region on Friday.

Corona mutations spreading in France despite strict curfew
Prime Minister Jean Castex, meanwhile, announced plans to initially deploy some 200,000 saliva tests per week at elementary school after the end of the vacations to monitor the spread of the epidemic there. These saliva PCR tests are particularly suitable if tests have to be repeated regularly, the High Health Authority had previously explained.

France has had a strict 6 p.m. curfew in place for several weeks - but there are no general daytime curfew restrictions. Retail outlets and schools are largely open. Restaurants, cultural institutions or ski lifts are closed. Just over 21,000 new Corona infections have been reported in France in the past 24 hours. More than 80,000 people have died since the epidemic began. Véran stressed it is now a matter of sticking together and buying time to prevent a new lockdown.