WHAT IS THIS NEW COVID-19 VARIANT IN SOUTH AFRICA?
South African scientists have identified a new version of the coronavirus this week. Which they say is behind a recent spike in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province. It’s unclear where the new variant actually came from. But it was first detected by scientists in South Africa and has also been seen in travelers to Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.
Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the variant was linked to an “exponential increase” in cases in recent days, although experts are still trying to determine whether the new variant, called B.1.1.529, is actually responsible. .
From just over 200 new confirmed cases per day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number of new daily cases skyrocket to 2,465 on Thursday. Struggling to explain the sudden increase in cases, the scientists studied virus samples from the outbreak and discovered the new variant.
On Friday, the World Health Organization convened a group of experts to evaluate the data from South Africa.
WHY ARE SCIENTISTS CONCERNED ABOUT THIS NEW VARIANT?
It appears to have a large number of mutations – about 30 – in the coronavirus spike protein, which could affect how easily it spreads to people.
Sharon Peacock, who has led the genetic sequencing of COVID-19 in Britain at the University of Cambridge, said that the data so far suggests that the new variant has mutations “consistent with improved transmissibility”, but said that “the importance of many of the mutations is still unknown ”.
Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, described the variant as “the most mutated version of the virus that we have seen.” He said it was concerning that although the variant was only detected at low levels in parts of South Africa, “it appears to be spreading rapidly.”
Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease physician, said US officials had arranged a call with their South African counterparts later Friday for more details and said there was no indication the variant had still arrived in the US.
WHAT IS KNOWN AND NOT KNOWN ABOUT THE VARIANT?
Scientists know that the new variant is genetically different from previous variants, including beta and delta variants, but they don’t know whether these genetic changes make it more transmissible or dangerous.
South African scientists have noted an increase in cases, but do not know if the new variant is responsible. It will take weeks to know if the vaccines are still effective against it.
So far, there is no indication that the variant causes a more serious illness. South African experts said that, as with other variants, some infected people do not have any symptoms.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The World Health Organization has convened a technical group of experts to decide whether the new variant deserves to be designated as a variant of interest or a variant of concern. If they do, the variant is likely named after a letter from the Greek alphabet, according to the current naming system.
The variants of interest, which currently include the mu and lambda variants, have genetic changes that are known to affect things like transmissibility and severity of the disease and have been identified as causing important clusters in several countries.
Variants of concern, which include alpha, beta, and delta, have been shown to spread more easily, cause more serious disease, or make current tools, such as vaccines, less effective.
To date, the delta variant remains by far the most communicable form of COVID; It represents more than 99% of the sequences shared with the largest public database in the world.
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