![]() The variant has a “very unusual constellation of mutations”, says Sharon Peacock at the University of Cambridge. The estimated reproduction number, the average number of people that an individual is likely to infect, is almost 2 in Gauteng compared with nearly 1.5 nationally. All of the 77 cases sequenced in the province between 12 and 20 November were identified as being caused by the variant. More than 80 per cent of South Africa’s cases are currently in the country’s Gauteng province. ![]() While the rate of growth has been fast, absolute numbers are still relatively low compared with the UK, which saw 50,000 cases on 26 November. National daily cases have gone from 274 on 11 November to 1000 a fortnight later. The WHO has now named it omicron after the Greek letter. The World Health Organization had listed B.1.1.529 as a variant under monitoring, but its Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution decided on 26 November to class it as a variant of concern. The same day, the UK Health Security Agency (HSA) designated it a variant under investigation, triggering travel restrictions for people travelling to the UK from South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Joe Phaahla, South Africa’s health minister, said on 25 November that he believes the variant is behind an exponential daily rise in covid-19 cases across the country in recent days. It was first detected on 23 November in South Africa using samples taken between 14 and 16 November. ![]() ![]() A woman in Johannesburg, South Africa, receives a nasal swab from a health workerĪ new variant of SARS-CoV-2, known first as B.1.1.529 and now named omicron, has an unusually high number of mutations and appears to have triggered a recent surge in cases in South Africa. ![]()
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