Photographer: BSIP / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
Photographer: BSIP / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
The South African government has rejected allegations that a new variant of the coronavirus found in the country has contributed to a second wave of infections in the UK and criticized its decision to impose travel restrictions.
A new virus variant detected in the UK has a mutation that occurs in a common place with the South African strain, known as 501.V2, but they are “two completely independent lineages,” the minister said. Health Zweli Mkhize in a statement Thursday afternoon. There is no evidence that 501.V2 causes more serious illness or increased mortality than any other variant that has been sequenced worldwide, he said.
Mkhize’s comments came a day after UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that flights from South Africa would be banned and anyone who had been there for the past two weeks would have to put the quarantine immediately. Several other countries have also stopped flights from South Africa.
The new strain from the UK was identified about a month before the South African variant appeared to have developed, Mkhize said, citing ongoing Network for Genomic Surveillance research in South Africa, which was launched in June. He called Hancock’s announcement “unfortunate.”
“It is a widely shared view of the scientific community that, given current circumstantial evidence, the risks of travel bans may outweigh the benefits and that it is possible to contain variants while maintaining international travel,” Mkhize said. “Therefore, we maintain that non-pharmaceutical interventions and strict containment measures remain the most important to reduce the risk of transmission.”
Coronavirus infections in South Africa have risen since the government eased most restrictions a few months ago, and a second wave now coincides with the summer holidays. The Ministry of Health recorded a record 14,305 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total accumulated to 968,563.
South African experts lead the field of genomic surveillance alongside those from institutions in Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, and have shared all the information on the evolution of coronavirus with l ‘World Health Organization,’ said Mkhize.