New variant of Covid-19 identified in South Africa

The Minister of Health of South Africa, Dr. Zweli Mkhize, announced on Friday that genomics scientists identified a new variant of Covid-19 which spreads faster and mainly affects young boys, which they called “Variant 501.V2”.

“Clinicians have provided anecdotal evidence of a change in the epidemiological clinical picture, in particular noting that they are seeing a higher proportion of younger patients without comorbidities that are presented with critical illness”, Reads a statement from the South African Department of Health.

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The evidence collected indicates that the second wave of Covid-19 currently living in South Africa It is driven by this new variant, according to the statement.

Explaining the findings, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a South African epidemiologist, said that the second hello shows early signs that it is spreading faster than first wave.

“It is still very early, but at this stage, preliminary data suggests that the virus that now dominates in the second hello is spreading faster than first wave”, Dijo Abdool Karim.

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He epidemiologist explained that the severity of the new variant and if it will cause more or fewer deaths than the first wave.

“We would expect it to be a virus less severe, but we have no clear evidence at this time. We have not seen red flags in our current information about deaths”, He indicated.

Abdool Karim assured, however, that the new variant has increased the viral load in the body, which would also mean greater efficiency in transmitting the virus.

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“When we look at this new variant, the CT score is lower than the others. virus that have spread during our first wave. It means that the amount of virus on the hyssop it is greater. A lower score means a greater amount of virus: we refer to that as viral load“, said. “The viral load higher on these swabs can translate into higher transmission efficiency ”.

The epidemiologist did not rule out that second hello, with Variant 501.V2, cause more cases than the first. However, I call not to panic, keep using mask, make use of antibacterial gel, constant hand washing and physical distancing.

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