New South Africa COVID variant triggers alert in India
SOUTH AFRICA, GERMANY,UK: Hours after South African authorities announced they had detected a new variant of the novel coronavirus with a “very unusual constellation” of mutations, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday directed states to rigorously screen and test travellers coming from or transiting through three countries in which the variant had been confirmed — South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong.
In a communication to all states and Union Territories, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said India’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has informed the Government that “multiple cases of a COVID-19 variant B.1.1529 have been reported in Botswana (3 cases), South Africa (6 cases) and Hong Kong (1 case)”.
“This variant is reported to have a significantly high number of mutations, and thus, has serious public health implications for the country, in view of recently relaxed visa restrictions and opening up of international travel,” Bhushan said.
Of the four variants of concern currently designated by the World Health Organisation, Beta (Pango lineage B.1.351), was first detected in South Africa in May 2020. The other three VoCs, Alpha (B.1.1.7), Delta (B.1.617.2), and Gamma (P.1) were first detected in the United Kingom, India, and Brazil in September 2020, October 2020, and November 2020 respectively.
Authorities in Botswana reported four cases of B.1.1.529 in fully vaccinated travellers. “Initial investigations…have established that the new variant has a high number of mutations as compared to the locally predominating Delta variant. What this means is still unclear and under investigation. New variants have the potential to affect severity of disease… At this moment, real-world impact of the variant has not been established,” Dr K Masupu, Coordinator of Botswana’s Presidential COVID-19 Task Force said.
Meanwhile, more than 1.5 million people have died from COVID-19 in Europe since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a tally of official data showed on Thursday as a number of countries reintroduce measures to try to stem the spread.
The official death toll stands at 1,500,105 in a combined 52 countries since the first fatality was recorded in the region in February, 2020, the data showed.
Meanwhile, Germany passed the threshold of 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, with the latest resurgence of the disease pushing new infections higher at a record pace and putting hospitals in some hotspots under severe pressure.
Meanwhile, Asian markets and oil prices sank while safe havens rallied on Friday over fears of a new COVID variant that scientists warn could be more infectious than Delta and even be more resistant to vaccines, dealing a blow to the global recovery.
The finding of the South African variant has led Britain and Israel to ban all travel from the country and five others in southern Africa as officials look to prevent it from taking hold in populations and spreading quickly.
The news has hammered confidence in Asian markets, which were already under pressure as traders prepared for the Federal Reserve to start tightening its monetary policy to fend off surging inflation.
Meanwhile, Britain on Thursday said it would ban travel from six southern African countries, after South Africa detected a new COVID-19 variant with a large number of mutations.
“The early indication we have of this variant is it may be more transmissible than the Delta variant and the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective against it,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid said.
Javid said the new variant, which South Africa attributed to a surge in cases and had also been detected in travellers from the country in Botswana and Hong Kong, had not been found so far in Britain.
– IANS, INDIAN EXPRESS