Photographer: BSIP / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
Photographer: BSIP / Universal Images Group / Getty Images
The South African government 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 common to the South African strain known as 501.V2, but they are ‘two completely independent lines’, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said. a statement late Thursday. . There is no evidence that 501.V2 causes more serious illness or increased mortality than any other variant sequenced around the world, he said.
Mkhize’s comments came a day after UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that flights from South Africa will be banned and that anyone who has been there in the past two weeks should be quarantined immediately. Several other countries have also stopped flights from South Africa.
The new British strain was identified about a month before the South African variant appeared to develop, Mkhize said, referring to ongoing research by the Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, launched in June. He described Hancock’s announcement as “unfortunate”.
“It is the widespread opinion of the scientific community that, given the current circumstantial evidence, the risks of travel bans outweigh the benefits, and that it is possible to limit the variants while supporting international travel,” Mkhize said. “We therefore 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 skyrocketed since the government relaxed most restrictions a few months ago, and a second wave is now coinciding with the summer vacation. The Ministry of Health registered a record 14,305 new cases on Thursday, bringing the cumulative total to 968,563.
Experts in South Africa lead the field of genomics surveillance alongside those of institutions in Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK, and have shared all information on the evolution of the coronavirus with the World Health Organization, Mkhize said.