[ad_1]
By Nathan Adams, Sam Player 
1 hour ago
Cape Town: The new variant of Covid-19 that is spreading across the country is more contagious and appears to affect young people more than the previous strain and authorities are warning that additional restrictions may be necessary.
The Department of Health has confirmed that the mutated strain, known as SARS-CoV-2 or named variant 501.v2, has been “identified in nearly 200 samples” collected from 50 different hospitals and clinics in the Western and Eastern Cape and KwaZulu- Native.
On Friday evening, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that researchers had discovered a new mutation of the virus, similar to one found in Britain this week, which he said appeared to affect young people more than strains that they had been circulating before.
“Clinicians have been providing anecdotal evidence of a change in the epidemiological clinical picture, in particular noting that they are seeing a higher proportion of younger patients with no comorbidities presenting with critical illness,” Mkhize said. The evidence “strongly suggests that the current second wave we are experiencing is being driven by this new variant.”
While Mkhize did not establish a connection between the recent Ballito Rage event, outside Durban, where more than 1000 youths were affected, which other officials have called a “super-spreader” event, and the proliferation of the new variant. of the coronavirus, its combination The effect has seen an increase in cases and hospitalizations in the three provinces.
“Our youth are not wearing masks and some are clearly intoxicated,” he said, referring to graduation parties. “They are throwing caution to the wind and they don’t care about the rules of disaster.”
Mkhize said the cases were “growing exponentially” and warned that additional restrictions would likely be necessary.
South Africa’s coronavirus task force co-chair Dr. Salim Abdool Karim said: “The second wave from South Africa may have pre-dated recent holidays, but they served to amplify the spread of the virus at a critical time for it to create widespread community transmission “.
He noted that other nightclub and college events attended by young people were also to blame.
The Covid-19 vaccines that have been developed and already distributed in parts of Europe and the US will arrive in South Africa early next year, where there have been close to 25,000 deaths.
But experts have admitted that it is not known whether these vaccines will be effective against the discovered 501.v2 variant.
The director of the Kwazulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, Professor Tulio de Oliviera, said that the efficacy of current vaccines on the mutated strain of Covid is not yet known. -19.
“At the moment, we don’t know. But what we are doing is working very fast … and this work involves both growing the virus in the laboratory and challenging the virus with antibodies from people who were previously infected with other lineages, ”said De Oliviera.
Professor Burtram Fielding, director of research and development at the University of the Western Cape, agreed. “Mutations in coronaviruses are very common, and typically the mutations would affect transmissibility first, so it’s easy for them to spread from one person to another.”
This would put even greater strain on an already limited public and private healthcare sector.
De Oliviera said that this more contagious strain was a real cause for concern, as it is similar to the variant of the coronavirus now seen in the UK.
“These two variants that arose independently are more transmissible than the current lineages. This is of great concern. More variation in transmission means more infected people, more infected people means that more people will need help and especially access to oxygen and ventilators, ”said De Oliviera.
With testing being intensified to deal with the second wave, De Oliviera does not anticipate that specific testing for this strain will be mandatory.
“At the moment, we hope that the vaccines that have been developed will work against this virus, so we do not see the need to test the person to see if they have this lineage before receiving the vaccine,” he said.
Immediately after the new variant, the Cape Town police will go out in full force with more than 1000 employees monitoring the beaches. Those who break the rules will be slapped with heavy fines and may even face jail time.
Richard Bosman, Cape Town City’s executive director of safety and security, warned that the City had the authority to limit access for bathers in the event of overcrowding and to apply punitive measures to those who did not practice social distancing.
“People can be fined and, if necessary, as a last resort, they can be arrested for violating disaster regulations,” Bosman said.
“Regulation 87 establishes penalties – a person can be convicted – they can be punished with a fine or imprisonment for a period not to exceed six months or both with a fine and with prison.
“The fines vary, but can be from R1,000 upwards.” – additional reports from The Washington Post
[ad_2]
