“Here is a mutation variant of serious concern,” Health Minister Joe Phaahla said at the same media event. “We were hopeful that we might have a longer break in between waves – possibly that it would hold off to late December or even next year January.”
Virologists have detected almost 100 cases linked to the variant in the country to date,said Anne von Gottberg,clinical microbiologist and head of respiratory diseases at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.World Health Organisation officials have met to discuss the virus,which has also been detected in Botswana,according to a separate statement.
In Botswana – a neighbour of South Africa – the new variant has been detected in vaccinated people,Kereng Masupu,co-ordinator of the Presidential COVID-19 Task Force,said in a statement.
The British government announced that it was banning flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries effective at noon (1200GMT) on Friday,and that anyone who had recently arrived from those countries would be asked to take a coronavirus test.
B.1.1529 is likely to have evolved during a chronic infection of an immunocompromised person,possibly in an untreated HIV/AIDS patient,said Francois Balloux,director of the UCL Genetics Institute. The world’s biggest number of HIV cases has complicated South Africa’s efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic,as immunocompromised people can harbour the virus for longer,scientists say.
The findings come as several European countries battle a renewed surge in COVID-19 case numbers,with hospitals in someGerman cities starting to feel the strain. Governments are considering a fresh round of restrictions,largely against the unvaccinated,to try and curb the spread.