People are waiting for tests by medical personnel at a mobile coronavirus testing unit of South Africa 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, said a member of a panel of scientists advising the health minister.
Still, there is no evidence that it causes a more serious or different form of the disease, and hospitalizations and death rates as a percentage of infections are lower than during the first wave in July and August, said infectious diseases physician Ian Sanne. and head of Right to Care, a non-profit organization that treats people living with HIV and related illnesses.
“We have seen data on viral loads higher in patients who exhibit the variant,” he said in an interview Thursday. “The variant is more transferable, the second wave has been significantly affected.”
The emergence of the 501.V2 variant, which Sanne said could have come from elsewhere before being identified in South Africa last month, has sparked a political row between South Africa and the UK, where a similar mutation has increased the infection rates drives up.
UK Health Minister Matt Hancock has said the South African variant is more dangerous, leading the UK to halt flights between the two countries. South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has labeled Hancock’s comments “unfortunate” and unsupported by evidence.
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The variant dominates infections in the coastal provinces of South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape and to a lesser extent the Western Cape, Sanne said.
“Nobody expected this second wave so early, and because of the variant this happened. Staff, nurses, doctors and other things are under enormous pressure, ”says Marc Mendelson, head of the infectious diseases & HIV medicine department at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town.
While more young people seem to be developing severe forms of the disease, it’s as yet unclear whether that’s because of the variant or more extensive testing and the holidays, he said.
There is no evidence that Covid-19 vaccines that have been approved will not work against the new strain. By December 30, the South African variant had been reported in four other countries. The UK variant has been found more widely, with reports covering 31 other countries, territories and territories around the world.
– With the assistance of Loni Prinsloo
(Adds impact on health workers in the third last paragraph)