Coronavirus: The Hjørring mutation and Big Brother

I wrote recently about two separate reports of outbreaks of the coronavirus in Hjørring in northern Jutland, one at a nursing home and another at a mink farm. Officials have now determined that it is the same mutation of the virus (DK) that occurred in both locations. “We have used our brand-new genetic tool on tests from the mink from the farm in Sindal, the mink breeders who are sick, and the residents of the nearby Vendelbocenter [nursing home],” said Anders Fomsgaard, a virus researcher at SSI, the agency for preparedness against infectious diseases. “And we can see that it’s the same virus. They have infected one another.”

Who infected whom, mink or man human?

Well, at least one of them infected the other, but Fomsgaard cannot yet say who had the virus first. All the mink on the farm, more than 10,000, were slaughtered. At the nursing home, 12 residents and 29 staff were found to be infected. The Hjørring municipality has also found infections among pupils at three schools. The pupils had connections to the other infection sites. Another mink farm in the municipality is being investigated. 

Officials are trying to determine how the outbreak originated. The mutation appears to be unique to these locations. “It does not appear in the virus in other places in Denmark or Europe, so this apparently has not been a foreign infection,” said Fomsgaard. Several coronavirus outbreaks have occurred at mink farms in the Netherlands, and more than 500,000 mink have been slaughtered.

The app is finally ready

Last week the Health Authority launched an app (DK) intended to help people avoid the coronavirus and break chains of infection. The app, which is called Smittestop (Infection Stop), works by bluetooth monitoring. Persons who are infected register the infection in the app, and when they are within one meter of another person for 15 minutes, the other person receives a warning in the app. The notification does not identify the infected person by name.

Questions about effectiveness and privacy

The app, which was developed by Netcompany, was originally described as being “free” (DK). Later, its cost was estimated at DKK 10 million, and now it is up to DKK 20 million ($3 million) for use only during the last six months of this year. Its development was delayed because of a security feature on iPhones that blocked its functioning. Data from contacts is saved only on people’s phones and not in a large database.

Concerns about privacy have been paramount. Nevertheless, some people are skeptical about the app (DK), sometimes for contradictory reasons: It won’t work; it comes too late; people won’t use it; it’s the start of an authoritarian surveillance society. Why delay notification for 15 minutes when you might already have become infected?

1.6 million users and zero results

Several countries have had problems with contact-tracing apps. A similar app in Norway was discontinued because officials decided they should not gather a large amount of personal data when the number of infections was very low. More than 1.6 million Norwegians downloaded the app, and it has not led to a single positive coronavirus identification. But that’s not necessarily bad news; it’s an indication of how safe Norway is.