United Kingdom and South Africa are on the front lines of new strains of the coronavirus. While the British authorities have mentioned a variant “out of control”, the African country for its part is facing a strain that seems to spread faster and with higher viral loads. But the South African Minister of Health, Zwelini Mkhize, tried to reassure the situation, specifying in particular that there was no evidence that it was more dangerous or contagious than its British cousin. “Today, there is no evidence that 501.V2 is more transmissible than the UK variant, as suggested by the UK Minister of Health,” Zwelini Mkhize said in a statement released late Thursday evening. “There is also no evidence that it causes a more severe form of the disease or increased mortality compared to the UK variant or any of the mutations identified worldwide,” adds he does.
On Wednesday, Matt Hancock said the new form of the virus from South Africa was “of great concern, because it is more contagious and seems to have mutated more than that identified in the United Kingdom”, announcing in the wake of travel restrictions between the two countries. These statements “may have created the perception that the South African variant was a major factor in the second wave in the UK, which is not the case,” Zwelini Mkhize said in his Christmas statement.
Travel prohibited between the two countries
The research evidence shows that the British mutation developed before South Africa, argues the minister. When the British reported the existence of their new variant to the WHO in mid-December, they traced its appearance in Kent to September 20, “i.e. a month before the southern variant. African does not seem to have developed, ”he argues. The South African minister regrets the decision to ban travel between the United Kingdom and his country. “There is no evidence that the South African strain is more pathogenic than the British strain”, however, this is what prompted this measure, he insists.
South Africa, the most affected country on the continent, has recorded more than 14,000 positive cases in the past two days, against an average of 8,000 to 10,000 at the start of the week. Zwelini Mkhize had already hinted Wednesday that new restrictions may be needed “to slow this alarming rate” of spread. Nearly 970,000 South Africans have contracted the disease since the start of the pandemic. Almost 26,000 died from it.
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