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Covid-19 infections continue to spread rapidly amid a second wave in South Africa, with the country registering an additional 8,725 confirmed cases in the past 24 hours.
This is after the country reported 9,131 cases on Thursday and surpassed the 10,000 new case mark on Wednesday (December 16) for the first time since August.
Sadly, 274 more Covid-19-related deaths have been reported: Eastern Cape 92, Free State 6, Gauteng 15, Kwa-Zulu Natal 56, Mpumalanga 4, and Western Cape 101.
This brings the total deaths to 24,285 deaths, while recoveries now stand at 783,818, Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize said on Friday.
# COVID-19 Statistics in SA as of December 18.
Use the COVID Alert SA app to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your community. Start using this privacy-preserving app today! Add your phone to the fight! Download the Covid Alert SA app now! https://t.co/8YKEqaiiRF pic.twitter.com/hEmL8fQ3Bm
– Dr. Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) December 18, 2020
The minister also announced that a variant of the SARS-COV-2 (Covid-19) virus, currently called the ‘501.V2 variant’, has been identified by genomics scientists in South Africa.
Mkhize said that a genomics team, led by the Kwazulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, or KRISP, has sequenced hundreds of samples from across the country since the start of the pandemic in March.
They noted that one particular variant has increasingly dominated the findings from samples collected in the past two months.
In addition, 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 without comorbidities presenting with critical illness.
The evidence that has been collected, therefore, strongly suggests that the current second wave we are experiencing is being driven by this new variant.
Explaining the findings, Professor Salim Abdool Karim said the second wave is showing some early signs that it is spreading faster than the first wave.
“It is still very early, but at this stage, preliminary data suggests that the virus that now dominates in the second wave is spreading faster than the first wave. It is not clear if the second wave has more or less deaths, in other words, the severity is still not very clear.
“Hopefully it is a less severe virus, but we have no clear evidence at this time. We have not seen red flags in our current information on deaths, ”he said.
“We had all these different strains that were routinely spread in South Africa during our first wave and beyond. What became quite different from what we didn’t expect is how quickly this variant has become dominant in South Africa.
This particular virus has three mutations in the receptor-binding domain, which is the actual part of the virus that attaches itself to the human cell. One of the interpretations of these changes is that the affinity for the ACE2 receptor increases, he said.
“The other two possible mutations add some potential antibody escape, but the full implications of combining the three mutations still need to be understood in more detail.”
Karim said the new variant has increased the viral load in the body.
“When we look at this new variant, the CT score is lower than that of the other viruses that have spread during our first wave. It means that the amount of virus on the swab is higher. A lower score means more virus – we refer to that as viral load. When we do a swab, we get a lot more virus in these patients who have the 501.V2 virus, ”he said.
“The higher viral load in these swabs can translate into higher transmission efficiency. If there is greater transmissibility, it can translate into a higher R0 (the number of additional people a patient can infect).
“While the other viruses are still spreading, this virus is spreading much faster than when we take swabs, it is the dominant variant that we see. This can translate into a second wave that can have many more cases than the first wave.
“We know that it is an unusual variant. It has been reported in other countries, including the UK, Australia, and several others. In our country, we are finding that between 80 and 90% of the virus is this 501.V2 mutant ”.
He said that there are still many issues that need to be investigated.
“We don’t know where it came from and we don’t know why it was formed. We found the first one in Nelson Mandela Bay, but we don’t know if it originated in Nelson Mandela Bay. It’s too early to tell if it’s more serious. “
Mkhize said that while this mutation is cause for concern, there is no reason to panic.
“We call on all the media and the medical and scientific community to focus on the facts and avoid speculation or issuing unsubstantiated statements and generating panic and misinformation.
“This research underscores the need for all of us to loyally adhere to the practice of non-pharmaceutical interventions that work just as effectively in any pandemic of this nature, including Covid-19, as we know it, and that are just as effective for a mutant variant. of the same virus, “he said.
“Nothing will beat the rigid implementation of the use of masks, use of hand sanitizer and washing with soap and distancing. Many countries experienced a second wave that was more severe than the first, even when no mutations were reported. “
He said that there is no evidence to date to suggest the need to change the clinical treatment and patient management of Covid-19 in the second wave and that this discovery does not require additional restrictive measures.
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