A new variant of the coronavirus, which appears to be more transmissible, has been discovered in South Africa and has been blamed for a new wave of COVID-19 cases.
Although it originated independently, it has a mutation similar to the new variant discovered in the UK which scientists say is more transferable, prompting many countries prohibit travel from Great Britain.
South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the new variant there appeared to be linked to higher rates of serious illness in younger people, and scientists are working to learn more about it.
Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are among the countries that have discontinued flights to and from South Africa.
Haley Ott of CBS News spoke with Tulio de Oliveira, director of KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, who is part of the team that discovered the new variant. A transcript of the interview below has been edited for length and clarity.
Haley Ott: We are hearing reports of new variants of the coronavirus emerging in countries around the world. What is happening in South Africa?
Professor Tulio de Oliveira: We have a new variant that has spread very quickly, and it has done (things) like the variant that has done London, which is dominate. What it means – to dominate – is to supplant all the others, like 20, 30 different descendants that we had.
It is very important to note that the variants between South Africa and the UK are very different. They don’t have a common origin, but they have a few similarities. Both have a key mutation in the spike glycoprotein that most likely allows the spike protein to bind better to the cells and enter the body. We both, in South Africa and the UK, believe this line is much more transferable than the previous one. And we try to study that as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
Is there any evidence that these new variants have worse outcomes in terms of disease severity in South Africa or the UK?
At the moment, we believe, both in South Africa and the UK, that the severity of the disease is similar. But again, it is still an open question. But we have no reason to believe that the severity of the disease is uneven. However, if it spreads much faster, we end up sick with a lot more people, just because of the sheer number.
As more information comes out about these new variants and, in different countries, as governments announce their plans to respond, I think people may be somewhat confused as to how intense their reaction to them should be. Some people say viruses mutate all the time, this is not uncommon. But we also hear that it is much more transferable. How concerned should people be about these new variants?
Yes, viruses mutate all the time. And the SARS-CoV-2 [coronavirus] had a kind of fixed linear mutation rate of about two mutations per month. We have not previously worried about the previous mutations because they did not appear to drastically affect the biological properties of the virus. And that’s why we’ve become more concerned when two independent variants seem to be spreading more quickly across two parts of the world. We wouldn’t be surprised if other countries also find species which seem to be better transmitted by mutations in the spike protein.
Can you tell me about how you discovered this new line in South Africa?
We increased the genomic surveillance in the area of South Africa that got the first wave of the second wave because we were quite surprised. Because we don’t expect a wave in the South African summer and a big second wave in the summer. And when we examined that, we saw that this line seemed to crowd out the others, but also spread very quickly across the coast.
What do you think people need to understand about what’s going on here?
We almost have to take an approach similar to many of the countries in South Asia, Asia and Oceania that tried to stop the transmission and tried to stop the transmission when it started, reacting very strongly to a small number of cases . So what has happened in South Africa, in the UK, in the United States or Brazil is that we have been circulating this virus at a relatively low or high level and trying to learn to live with the virus. But maybe the virus is starting to outsmart us.
We are very concerned not only for South Africa, but also for the rest of Africa. Our health system has been hit by 20 years of HIV and TB epidemics, so we are quite concerned that while Africa has successfully escaped the first wave, if it doesn’t get tougher and try to control this virus, we may not be as successful escape this second wave as in the first.