South Africa is struggling with a second wave of Covid-19 diseases that appear to be driven by a new and more contagious version of the disease, similar to the one in the UK.
Scientists and officials have warned 56 million people nationwide that the new version, called 501.V2, carries a heavier viral load and appears to be more common among the population. young people.
“It is still very early days but at this stage, the initial data suggests that the virus that is now gaining the upper hand in the second wave is spreading faster than the first wave, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, chairman of the government’s ministerial advisory committee (MAC), said.
South Africa may see “many more issues” in the new wave than it experienced earlier this year, said Abdool Karim.
Professor Ian Sanne, a member of the MAC, said the variables found in South Africa were not the same as those identified in the UK.
“There are two different viruses but they are different variants of the same strain of the coronavirus,” Sanne told local media.
Five countries, including Switzerland and Germany, have banned flights from South Africa to stop the spread of the variant.
South Africa has recorded 931,000 cases of Covid-19, with nearly 25,000 deaths, according to official statistics. Additional mortality studies suggest a death tax greater than 56,000.
After the first wave peaked in July and August, the daily number for new cases fell sharply. However, the number of new infections began to rise sharply in early December, reaching 11,000 earlier in the week.
Dr Richard Lessells, a leading infectious disease expert in South Africa, said it was not yet clear how effective the current vaccines would be against the variant. Another concern was that people who had already caught Covid-19 could.
“We have a few more concerns with the opposite [than that in the UK] for the vaccine… But we are now doing the careful, systematic work in the laboratory to answer all our questions, and that will take time, ”he said.
More than 8,500 people in South Africa are being treated in hospital with Covid-19, surpassing the high of 8,300 recorded in August.
In the Cape Western region, once a popular destination for holidaymakers and tourists, private and public hospitals are filling up fast.
Department stream the seven-day average for new infections is 2,950, far more than the most intense period of the first wave when it was 1,623. More than one in three tests performed in the province are positive.
Researchers say the South African variant appeared in Nelson Mandela Bay in the Cape East region, where health care services are among the weakest in the country.
“This line spread quickly, coming within weeks as the strongest line in the Cape East and Cape Western areas. Although the full significance of the mutations has not yet been confirmed, the genomic data, showing the rapid movement of other sequences, suggest that this line may be associated with increased transmission, ”said a published research paper. this week.
Vaccines for between 3% and 10% of the population are unlikely to be available for at least six months, experts believe.
The South African government has responded so far with only minimal control measures – cutting days and hours for the alcohol trade, placing more restrictions on large gatherings and closing a number of popular beaches. Officers have updated calls for wearing a face mask, socializing and hand washing.
Few local experts believe that such measures will be able to prevent the spread of diversification, but government options are limited. Tight locking in March delayed the uprising but at high economic and social cost.
There are more than 2.5 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 on the African continent – with more than 2 million recovered and 59,000 dying together, according to the World Health Organization.