As the Delta variant of Covid-19 is largely the cause of the fifth wave, a new variant has just been discovered in South Africa.
“We have unfortunately detected a new variant which is of concern in South Africa,” virologist Tulio de Oliveira said on Thursday.
The B.1.1.529 variant has an "extremely high" number of mutations, according to South African scientists who had previously detected the Beta variant.
At this stage, scientists are not certain of the effectiveness of anti-Covid vaccines against this new form of the virus, as the worldwide pandemic is currently dominated by the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, initially detected in India. .
Cases in neighboring Botswana and Hong Kong
The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has confirmed that through collaborative efforts with private laboratories and members of the NGS-SA, a new variant, B.1.1.529 has been detected.
Twenty-two positive cases of this variant have been identified in the country.
But, according to the NICD, the cases detected and the percentage of positive tests are increasing rapidly, especially in several regions placed on alert like Gauteng, the Northwest and Limpopo.
The appearance of this variant is undoubtedly at the origin of the “exponential” increase in contaminations in recent weeks, according to the Minister of Health, Joe Phaahla, present at the press conference.
Other cases have been reported in neighboring Botswana and Hong Kong, on a person returning from a trip to South Africa.
South Africa, which fears a new wave of the pandemic by the end of the year, is officially the most affected country on the continent by the pandemic.
It has more than 2.9 million cases and more than 89,600 deaths.