The Health Department of South Africa had informed about two weeks ago that a new variant of Covid-19 has been found in the country.
London| Days after the UK declared lockdown due to new strain of Coronavirus found in parts of the country, another new variant of the virus has been detected in the UK. Health Secretary Matt Hancock called it a matter of great concern. According to Hancock, there have been two cases of the new variant. Both infected patients returned from South Africa a few days ago. He said, “Those who have returned from South Africa in the last few weeks, I appeal to them to go into Quarantine and contact the Health Administration.”
The Health Department of South Africa also said last week that new genetic mutations (new types of viruses in common parlance) of the coronavirus have been detected, presumably due to the increasing number of infections.
Why link to Africa?
This can be understood by two things. First, the Health Department of South Africa had told about two weeks ago that a new variant of Covid-19 has been found in the country. Secondly, two cases of new variants in Britain, both of them arrived here from South Africa. The British Health Secretary is stressing on the same thing.
The new variant spreads faster
Britain was the first to approve vaccination. But, cases are still increasing rapidly here. The new strain spreads 70% faster. Hancock also said- The new variant of Covid-19 is a matter of great concern. It is more contagious and it spreads more quickly.
Britain has imposed a temporary ban on flights coming from South Africa. About 40 countries around the world have banned flights coming from both countries.
What do experts say?
One thing has not been completely clear whether the variants found in Britain and South Africa are exactly the same or there is some difference between the two. In this regard, Susanne Hopkins of Public Health England said – “The new variants we have identified in the UK, and those found in South Africa, are very different. Their mutation is also different. One thing is the same, both variants spread rapidly. We are doing more research on this.”
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