(Johannesburg) The new variant of the coronavirus identified in South Africa in October is no more deadly, but it is 1.5 times more contagious, a panel of South African experts said Monday.
Posted Jan. 18, 2021, 3:24 p.m.
–
–
Baptized 510Y. V2, this mutation “is 50% more transmissible”, but “there is no indication that the new variant is more severe,” said Prof. Salim Abdool Karim, epidemiologist and co-chair of the scientific committee at the South African Ministry of Health.
These conclusions are drawn in particular from data collected in the main sources of contamination in the country of southern Africa.
37,000 dead, but cases on the decline
South Africa has more than 1.3 million cases of the coronavirus, including some 37,000 deaths. The new South African variant is now predominant in this country, which is most affected by the pandemic on the African continent.
Hard hit by the second wave of the pandemic, the country however recorded a 23% decrease in the number of cases on Monday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Monday.
South Africa has arguably reached the ‘inflection point’ of this second wave, he said, ‘but it is too early to celebrate’, because at the same time, hospital admissions have increased. increased by 18.3% compared to the previous week.
The second wave of the pandemic is putting enormous pressure on the country’s breathless health system.
“If there are more patients, hospital mortality has not changed” between the first and the second wave, however underlined a specialist of the panel, the Dr Waasila Jassat.
New restrictions
The discovery of a new variant forced South African authorities to put new restrictions in place in December.
The world has underestimated this virus: this virus can evolve and adapt.
–
Prof. Alex Sigal, from the African Health Research Institute.
–
Professor Sigal also sits on the same panel.
Fears over the new variant have also isolated Africa’s leading industrial powerhouse, with several airlines cutting their routes.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced the arrival of 20 million vaccines in the next six months, for a population of 59 million people, without giving details.
“Wishful thinking and dishonest manipulation,” the Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition party, which demands clarifications on the government’s vaccination program, denounced in a statement Monday.
“No proof of the effectiveness of current vaccines against the variant of the coronavirus has yet been provided”, also acknowledged Professor Abdool Karim, stressing that “many studies are underway”.
–
