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What you need to know about the new variant: COVID-19 Daily Bulletin
Updated 01:29, 27-Nov-2021
CGTN
Medical staff members transport COVID-19 patients, who are being transferred from Brno hospitals, in Prague, Czechia. /Reuters/David W Cerny

Medical staff members transport COVID-19 patients, who are being transferred from Brno hospitals, in Prague, Czechia. /Reuters/David W Cerny

 

What do we know? 

Global authorities have reacted with alarm to a coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa. The European Union, Britain and India are among those announcing stricter border controls as scientists seek to determine if the mutation is vaccine-resistant.

On Tuesday, South African scientists detected a small number of cases of the variant – called B.1.1.529 – in samples taken between November 14-16.

On Wednesday, South African scientists sequenced more genomes, informed the government that they were concerned and asked the World Health Organization (WHO) to convene its technical working group on virus evolution for Friday.

The country has identified around 100 cases of the variant, mostly from its most populated province, Gauteng.

 

Where else has it been identified?

South African scientists say early signs from diagnostic laboratories suggest it has spread rapidly in Gauteng and may already be present in the country's other eight provinces.

The country's daily infection rate nearly doubled on Thursday to 2,465. South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) did not attribute the resurgence to the new variant, although local scientists suspect it is the cause.

Botswana detected four cases, all in foreigners who arrived on a diplomatic mission and have since left the country.

Hong Kong has one case, in a traveler from South Africa and Israel has one in a traveler returning from Malawi.

Belgium has become the first country in Europe to find a case, in an unvaccinated traveler recently returned from Egypt.

The variant is relatively easy to distinguish in PCR tests from Delta, the dominant COVID-19 variant and the most infectious so far. 

 

What are the experts saying? 

All viruses – including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 – change over time. Most changes have little or no impact on their properties.

However, some changes may affect how easily they spread, their severity or the performance of vaccines against them.

This one has drawn scrutiny because it has more than 30 mutations of the spike protein that viruses use to get into human cells, UK health officials say.

That is about double the number of Delta, and makes this variant substantially different from the original coronavirus that current COVID-19 vaccines were designed to counteract.

South African scientists say some of the mutations are associated with resistance to neutralizing antibodies and enhanced transmissibility, but others are not well understood, so its full significance is not yet clear.

UK Health Security Agency Chief Medical Adviser Susan Hopkins told BBC radio some mutations had not been seen before, so it was not known how they would interact with the other ones, making it the most complex variant seen so far.

So more tests will be needed to confirm if it's more transmissible, infectious or can evade vaccines.

The work will take a few weeks, the WHO's technical lead on COVID-19, Maria van Kerkhove, said on Thursday. In the meantime, vaccines remain a critical tool to contain the virus.

No unusual symptoms have been reported following infection with the B.1.1.529 variant and, as with other variants, some individuals are asymptomatic, South Africa's NICD said.

The UN agency will decide if it should be designated a variant of interest or variant of concern. The latter label would be applied if there is evidence that it is more contagious and vaccines work less well against it, and it would be given a Greek name.

The WHO has so far identified four variants "of concern" – Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. Two variants of interest are Lambda, identified in Peru in December 2020, and Mu, detected in Colombia in January.

 

What has the reaction been in Europe? 

The WHO cautioned countries against hastily imposing travel restrictions linked to the new B.1.1.529 variant of COVID-19, saying they should take a "risk-based and scientific approach."

The European Commission proposed that EU countries suspend travel links with countries in which the new variant has been found.

The Commission recommendation is not binding as decisions on travel restrictions are taken individually by the 27 governments of the EU, but it would allow better coordination, the Commission said.

Japan and UK have also brought in restrictions on southern African nations, with more states expected to follow suit.

 

02:38

Other headlines

· The official residence of France's most senior representative on the Caribbean island of Martinique suffered an arson attack last night, said the local prosecutor's office, as protests against COVID-19 protocols continued to hit the overseas territory.

· Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine maker, said it shipped the first batch of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, branded as Covishield, to the COVAX vaccine-sharing program after an eight-month hiatus.

· Germany readied its air force to transfer COVID-19 patients from overwhelmed hospitals in the south as national case numbers continue to rise sharply.

 

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Source(s): Reuters

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