Germany Has Four Coronavirus Cases With Local Transmission Involved

Posted on January 27, 2020

Germany now has four cases of the Wuhan novel coronavirus. The four cases involve local transmission and are not imported cases from China.

One of the cases was confirmed yesterday. The Guardian reports that the first case was also the first known human-to-human transmission of the Wuhan coronavirus in Europe. A man was infected with the virus in Germany by a colleague who had been in China.

This particular case may also confirm China's theory that asymptomatic people can still pass on the coronavirus. The Guardian reports that the woman who transmitted the virus "had no symptoms when she transmitted it to her colleague."

The other three cases in southern Germany are employees that work at the same company as the man in the first case. Reuters reports that they contracted the virus from a Chinese colleague. This would make four cases of human-to-human transmission in Germany.

BavariaÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢s Health Minister Melanie Huml said in a statement, "A total of around 40 employees at the company have been identified as potential close contacts (with their Chinese colleague). As a precaution, the people concerned are to be tested on Wednesday."

COVID-19