EditorNigerian scientists are worried about local consequences for the country as South Africa detects new COVID-19 variants.
South African scientists, on Thursday, detected a new COVID-19 variant in small numbers. The variants are said to be worse than the Delta variant and experts are working to understand it, Prime Business Africa reports.
Scientists told reporters at a news conference that the new variant – called B.1.1.529 – has an unusual constellation of mutations. The mutations are said to be concerning because they could help it ward off the body’s immune response and make it more transmissible.
They said that Emearly signs from diagnostic laboratories suggest that the variant has increased rapidly in the most populated province of Gauteng and may already be present in the other eight provinces.
South Africa has confirmed around 100 specimens as B.1.1.529, but the variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, with the Hong Kong case being a traveller from South Africa. Scientists also said that as many as 90% of new cases in Gauteng could be B.1.1.529.
“Although the data are limited, our experts are working overtime with all the established surveillance systems to understand the new variant and what the potential implications could be,” South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement.
Meanwhile, South Africa has requested an urgent sitting of a World Health Organization (WHO) working group on virus evolution on Friday to discuss the new variant.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla said it was too early to say whether the government would impose tougher restrictions in response to the variant.
South Africa was the first country to detect the Beta variant last year.
Beta is one of only four labelled “of concern” by the WHO because there is evidence that it is more contagious and vaccines work less well against it.
The country detected another variant, C.1.2, earlier this year, but it has not displaced the more common Delta variant.
It also accounts for a small percentage of genomes sequenced in recent months.
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