Johannesburg:
South Africa has identified a new variant of the coronavirus that is driving a second wave of infections, the overall health minister mentioned on Friday, days following Britain mentioned it had also located a new variant of the virus boosting circumstances.
“We have convened this public briefing today to announce that a variant of the SARS-COV-2 Virus – currently termed 501.V2 Variant – has been identified by our genomics scientists here in South Africa,” Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize tweeted.
“The evidence that has been collated, therefore, strongly suggests that the current second wave we are experiencing is being driven by this new variant,” Mkhize added.
South Africa has recorded the highest quantity of coronavirus infections in Africa, approaching the 900,000 mark, with more than 20,000 connected deaths. A resurgence in circumstances saw the government tighten restrictions on society this week.
The World Health Organization (WHO) mentioned on Friday it was in touch with the South African researchers who identified the new variant.
The international body added there was no indication there have been adjustments in the way the new strain of the virus was behaving.
“We are working with them with our SARS-COV-2 Virus evolution working group. They are growing the virus in the country and they’re working with researchers to determine any changes in the behaviour of the virus itself in terms of transmission,” WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told a news conference in Geneva.
South African overall health authorities mentioned the new variant seemed to spread more quickly than the preceding iteration, but that it was as well early to inform its severity and irrespective of whether existing vaccines would work against it.
“In the UK they have also identified a new variant … there are quite a few similarities between the two lineages … there are also a similar number of mutations” mentioned Prof Tulio de Oliviera, a member of government’s genomics consortium in a televised briefing.
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