Germany plans more tests, sequencing to deal with new coronavirus variants

FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Albrechtsburg castle amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Meissen, Germany, January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN (Reuters) - Top German politicians on Monday called for new measures to slow the spread of new, more infectious variants of the coronavirus, including more health checks for cross-border commuters and intensified gene sequencing of virus samples.

In future, health labs will have to sequence 5% of the samples they collect when screening for the coronavirus to check if they match more virulent variants first identified in Britain and South Africa, or if new mutations were emerging in Germany.