A spokesman for the prime minister said he was unable to comment on the report immediately.
Britain s government on Monday said a rise in new infections might be partly linked to the new variant as the capital and other areas have moved into the highest tier of Covid-19 restrictions.
Meanwhile, a severe variant of the coronavirus has been detected in South Africa, which could explain the rapid spread of a second wave that is affecting younger people, South African Minister of Health Zwelini Mkhize said Friday.
Known as the 501.V2 Variant, it was identified by South African researchers and details have been sent to the World Health Organisation, Dr Mkhize said in a statement.
South Africa Discovers New Strain of COVID-19 Causing The Second Wave of Coronavirus
The South African Minister for Health, Zweli Mkhize, has announced that researchers have identified a new strain of the coronavirus that is spreading faster than the first one and is driving the second wave of infections. It is similar to the new variant of the virus found in Britain.
The minister tweeted,
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. The evidence that has been collated, therefore, strongly suggests that the current second wave we are experiencing is being driven by this new variant.
Adding to the government s concerns is the festive holiday season, with many people travelling across the country to visit family and friends, and increasing the risk of infection. This is despite the government closing beaches in the Eastern Cape, the Garden Route and on busy public holidays in KwaZulu-Natal.
Professor Tulio de Oliveira, head of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (Krisp), which has conducted genomic sequencing on Covid-19, told the Sunday Times that people should be very concerned as there is clear evidence that this lineage may be far more transmissible . Our hospitals will get close to being overwhelmed in the next weeks or even next few days. Once our hospitals run out of beds, it will be very difficult to provide space in ICU and provide oxygen and ventilators. Then the excess deaths will be much higher this time around.
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Severe Covid variant detected in South Africa ― Minister
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A severe variant of the coronavirus has been detected in South Africa which could explain the rapid spread of a second wave that affects younger people, the health minister said Friday.
Known as the 501.V2 Variant, it was identified by South African researchers and details have been sent to the World Health Organization, Zwelini Mkhize said in a statement.
A team led by the Kwazulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), has sequenced hundreds of virus samples since the pandemic began, and “noticed that a particular variant has increasingly dominated the findings of the samples collected in the past two months,” he added.
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