A new variant of Covid-19 has been detected in South Africa, with its degree of mutation causing waves of concern worldwide and triggering travel restrictions over fears that the variant may be more transmissible and deadly.  



A new variant of the Covid-19&nbsp;coronavirus&nbsp;has been detected in South Africa, and shows alarming degrees of mutation, causing a new series of travel bans that will impact the African continent as concern grows around the variant’s transmissibility and ability to resist vaccines.&nbsp; &nbsp; The new variant, currently termed B.1.1.529, has been identified in South Africa, Botswana and in Hong Kong. The variant is expected to receive an official designation from the World&nbsp;Health&nbsp;Organization&nbsp;in line with other variants during the course of&nbsp;today,&nbsp;November&nbsp;26.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &#8220;Initially it looked like some cluster outbreaks, but from yesterday, the indication came from our scientists from the Network of Genomic Surveillance that they were observing a new variant,&#8221; said South African minister of Health Joe&nbsp;Phaahla&nbsp;yesterday during a press conference discussing the variant.&nbsp;&nbsp;



&nbsp; During the briefing, genomic scientists highlighted that the variant has an unusually high number of mutations, with over 30 in the spike protein of the virus itself, which plays a determining factor in the virus’ ability to enter the body and a key target of vaccines themselves.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; “The variant has a very high number of mutations,” said Professor Tulio de Oliveira of the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, which first detected the variant. “We can see that the variant is potentially spreading very fast. We do expect to start seeing pressure in the healthcare system in the next few days and weeks,” he continued.&nbsp; &nbsp; The detection of the new variant has led to an increase in travel restrictions, with the United Kingdom announcing a temporary suspension of all flights from South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, eSwatini, Zimbabwe and Botswana from Friday&nbsp;amid concerns around the variant. Israel too has imposed similar restrictions, with the addition of Mozambique to its list of restricted countries.&nbsp;These bans are a hard hit for the South African tourism industry, which has&nbsp;already&nbsp;suffered greatly due to the pandemic.&nbsp;&nbsp;



With 77 confirmed cases of the new variant in&nbsp;the country’s&nbsp;Gauteng&nbsp;province,&nbsp;according to official National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) data, there are indications that most of the recent spike in cases are due to the new variant, but it’s still too early to say whether the variant is more transmissible than the Delta variant, or to what degree it is able to bypass immunization.&nbsp;&nbsp;



&nbsp; South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to meet with the National Command Council on Sunday to assess the implications of the variant.&nbsp;&nbsp;



&#8220;Alongside vaccination, the wearing of face masks, frequent washing or sanitation of hands, keeping a social distance and the avoidance of gatherings remain a proven, effective means of stopping or slowing the spread of coronavirus infection. The virus has not been eradicated and vaccination protects us from serious illness, hospitalization or death,&#8221; the office of the presidency said in a press release.&nbsp; &nbsp; However, with the holiday season fast approaching, it remains to be seen whether the South African tourism economy will recover from further travel restrictions, and whether increased lockdown measures will be imposed in South Africa.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Tag: Covid-19 Variant

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New Covid-19 Variant Detected In South Africa Triggers Fresh Wave Of Travel Bans Ahead Of Holiday Season