People are waiting to be tested by medical staff at a mobile coronavirus testing unit of the South African Department of Health in Johannesburg.
Photographer: Guillem Sartorio / Bloomberg
Photographer: Guillem Sartorio / Bloomberg
The new strain of coronavirus identified in South Africa appears to be more transmissible than previous variants and has accelerated the onset of a second wave of infections, according to a member of a group of scientists who advised the health minister. country.
However, there is no evidence that they cause a more severe or different form of the disease, and hospitalization and mortality rates, as a proportion of the number of infections are lower than in the first wave of July and August. , said Ian Sanne, an infectious disease doctor. and head of Right to Care, a non-profit organization that provides treatment to people with HIV and associated diseases.
“We have seen data on viral loads are higher in patients presenting with the variant,” he said in an interview Thursday. “The variant is more transmissible, the second wave has been substantially impacted.”
The appearance of variant 501.V2, which Sanne says may have originated elsewhere before it was identified in South Africa last month, has sparked a political rift between South Africa and the United Kingdom. where a similar mutation increases infection rates.
UK Health Minister Matt Hancock has said the South African variant is more dangerous, which has caused the UK to stop flights between the two countries. South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has called Hancock’s comments “unfortunate” and not supported by evidence.
For more information on the dispute, click here
The variant dominates infections in the coastal provinces of South Africa of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape and, to a lesser extent, in the Western Cape, Sanne said.
“Nobody expected this second wave so soon and, for the variant, this happened. Staff, nurses, doctors and others are under enormous pressure, ”said Marc Mendelson, head of the Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicines Division at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital.
While there appear to be more young people developing severe forms of the disease, it’s still unclear whether this is due to the variant or more comprehensive testing and the holiday season, he said.
There is no evidence that approved Covid-19 vaccines do not work against the new strain. As of December 30, the South African variant had been reported in four other countries. The UK variant has been found more widely, with reports spanning another 31 countries, territories and areas around the world.
– With the assistance of Loni Prinsloo
(It adds impact to health workers in the last third paragraph)