New SA Covid variant: Vaccines should work, but further mutation could pose threat Dec 22, 2020, 02:33 PM
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The new United Kingdom and South Africa variants of SARS-CoV-2 are different, but both make the virus more transmissible and both have more genetic variations than previously observed variants
There is no evidence that the current mutations will make available vaccines less effective
But if the variant is allowed to spread and evolve, that could compromise the effect of the vaccine, a scientist warned.
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The new Covid-19-causing virus variants in the United Kingdom and South Africa are different, but have a similar mutation that makes them more transmissible, say scientists. And this is not the first time that they have seen it.
Another new variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in South Africa By Haley Ott New variant of COVID-19 in South Africa
A new variant of the coronavirus, which appears to be more transmissible, has been discovered in South Africa and is being blamed for a new surge in COVID-19 cases there.
South Africa s health minister, Zweli Mkhize, said that the new variant there appeared to be linked to higher rates of severe illness in younger people, and that scientists are working to learn more about it.
Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia are among countries that have stopped flights to and from South Africa.
Can cannabis help in fight against Covid-19? Experts explain how
By Jehran Naidoo
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DURBAN - By their very nature, all medicinal drugs could be seen as toxic for human beings. A tad too much and one could overdose.
This could be the reason why we consume drugs in such minute amounts, such as four to five milligrams per dose.
Almost a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, scientists and health experts around the world have been puzzled, trying to figure out an exact method for combating the novel coronavirus.
With the second wave of infections in our midst, we are starting to see the South African health system take on unprecedented strain, largely due to the influx of Covid-19 patients.
UK announces travel restrictions for South Africa due to new Covid-19 variant
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The UK government has announced new travel restrictions for South Africa after a second variant of Covid-19 was detected in the country.
In a statement on Wednesday (23 December), the UK’s Health and Social Care secretary Matt Hancock said that the restrictions would take effect immediately and that flights to South Africa will stop.
He added that anyone in the UK who has been in South Africa in the past two weeks must quarantine immediately.
“As part of our surveillance, and thanks to the impressive genomic capability of the South Africans, we have detected two cases of another new variant of coronavirus here in the UK.
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GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - A downward trend in the number of active positive Covid-19 cases in all the Garden Route hotspots - George, Mossel Bay, Knysna and Plettenberg Bay - promises some relief. On the other hand, figures in the Overberg, Cape Winelands and Cape Metro have started to climb. They are following our trend, said head of Disaster Management Gerhard Otto yesterday, 22 December, shortly after a meeting with the provincial joint operational centre (Prov Joc).
The George municipal area is now back to where it was on 7 December with 1 780 active cases, compared to the second wave peak that was around 2 173 active cases; Knysna and Bitou are back to the November active case load with 713 (Knysna) and 399 (Bitou) active cases, compared to the second wave peak that was 863 (Knysna) and 487 (Bitou). Mossel Bay is also showing some stabilisation in new Covid-19 positive cases being reported.