The discovery of a new variant of the coronavirus in the Guanteng District, South Africa’s most populous district, puts governments around the world on high alert-especially considering that according to infectious disease experts, the variant shows a large number of mutations and rapid spread in young people. Among people.
Although new coronavirus variants, including those with worrying mutations, often disappear, scientists say it will take time to eliminate their potential impact on the public health system because the virus is still evolving and always The existence of mutant variants becomes more transmissible or lethal than previously assumed. The new coronavirus variant discovered in South Africa is currently identified as B.1.1.529, and it is reported to have also spread to Botswana and Hong Kong through travelers from South Africa.
Out of concerns about the new wave of infections, the British government has banned flights from South Africa and five other countries in the southern part of the continent. It also instructs anyone who has recently arrived from these countries to be tested for Covid-19 to achieve good results. Tulio de Oliveira is a member of the South African Genome Surveillance Network, which tracked the spread of Delta coronavirus variants in the country, telling the Associated Press that the “very large number of mutations” of the new coronavirus variants is an evasion and immune response to predictions. Concerns about communication capabilities.
“This new variant has many, many mutations, including more than 30 spike proteins that affect transmission,” de Oliveira was quoted as saying. “We can see that this variant may spread very quickly. We do expect that in the next few days and weeks, the healthcare system will begin to be under pressure.”
Although this mutated coronavirus has seen a significant “jump” during its evolution, we see a glimmer of hope because it can at least be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. In addition, a team of scientists from seven universities in South Africa is currently studying 100 whole genomes of the variant, and they hope to make more discoveries in the coming days, de Oliveira added.
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