Second coronavirus wave in Europe after summer 2020 mainly due to introduction of new virus strains

More than half of the COVID-19 strains that were circulating in the late summer of 2020 in Europe were only introduced after 15 June. This indicates that the relaxing of rules and international travel have played an important role in the emergence of the second wave. More than half of the COVID-19 strains that were circulating in the late summer of 2020 in Europe were only introduced after 15 June. This indicates that the relaxing of rules and international travel have played an important role in the emergence of the second wave. Thanks to the vaccination campaign, things are different this summer, but even now vigilance is still required, researchers from KU Leuven and ULB say in Nature . In the late summer of 2020, Europe was hit by a second wave of COVID-19 that turned out to be deadlier and more difficult to control than the first one. Researchers from KU Leuven and ULB have shown that this wave was mainly due to new virus strains that only started to circulate in summer.