South Africa mulls further restrictions as new COVID-19 variant spreads rapidly

Following the detection of the new COVID-19 strain, South Africa has registered more than one million cases to date. The situation has prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to call an emergency meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council.

The new South Africa variant of the virus, 501.V2, is reported to be more contagious and has quickly become dominant in many areas of the resurgence. Several hospitals and medical centres have also reported a huge rise in admissions and Ramaphosa is expected to announce a return to restrictive measures designed to curb the spread of the deadly virus. 

Infectious disease specialist, Dr. Richard Lessells said, "We are not helpless in the face of the variant. We can change our behaviour to give the virus less opportunities to spread." He also added that it was important to avoid contact with others in indoor, enclosed spaces. 

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South Africa has confirmed nearly 1,004,413 cases of COVID-19 infections and 26,753 deaths since the outbreak began in March. Lessels said that one million is a "serious milestone" but also added that the true number of cases and deaths is almost certainly much higher. He pointed out that the new variant’s genomic sequencing shows it has become dominant in the coastal provinces of Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. 

"As people return from holidays at coastal areas, we can expect them to bring the variant with them," said Lessells. "We can also expect travellers to take the variant with them across the borders to other African countries."

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‘No evidence’ that variant is more dangerous 

Meanwhile, with a surge in cases, the UK has already banned travel from South Africa. Britain had claimed that the 501.V2 variant is more dangerous than the one found in England. However, earlier this week, South Africa had dismissed the UK’s claim and said that such statements were "not correct". 

South African health minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize said that the authorities have consulted with the country’s genomics team who have assured that there is no evidence that the 501.V2 is more transmissible than the United Kingdom variant. He added that there is also no evidence that the South African strain causes more severe disease or increased mortality than the UK variant or any variant that has been sequenced around the world. Further, the health minister added that there is enough evidence to suggest that the UK variant developed earlier than the South African variant. 

(With inputs from AP) 

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