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A new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus is circulating in South Africa. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on television late Friday that the variant, initially called 501.V2, was discovered and isolated during genetic testing in samples from different provinces. Mkhize also tweeted that the available data strongly suggested that “the current second wave is being driven by this new variant.” It is not yet clear whether the new variant will affect future vaccinations.
According to South African doctors, more young people were infected during the second wave than before. They also suffered more often from a more severe course of Covid-19 lung disease. Health Minister Mkhize, however, warned against speculation. There is no reason to change the recommendations for protective measures. According to WHO expert Maria van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization is in contact with the researchers. So far there has been no evidence that the variant behaves differently than already described, he said.
So far, 892,813 corona cases have been confirmed in South Africa and more than 24,000 people have died in connection with the Covid 19 disease. The government imposed a nationwide exit restriction in late March to contain the spread of the virus and the tightened slightly after a temporary recall at the start of the holiday season. The restrictions also affect the economy.
The new variant of the virus was discovered by a research team led by South Africa’s Kwazulu-Natal Research Sequencing and Innovation Platform (KRISP), which has examined hundreds of samples since the start of the pandemic. The scientists also relayed their research to the WHO and UK authorities. They recently informed the WHO about a new variant of the coronavirus found in the UK.
According to the WHO, the variants of the virus known to date little or nothing have behaved differently from the virus that was first identified with respect to the routes of infection or the severity of the disease.
