Cape Town, South Africa (CWBN)_ Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize claimed that local researchers have identified a new strain of the Covid-19 virus, referred to as the 501.V2 Variant, and the details of the findings have been relayed to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The research team, led by Kwazulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), responsible for the discovery have sequenced hundreds of viral samples, claimed that the new variant “increasingly dominated” samples collected over the past two months.
It is expected that the new strain would have severe effect on even young and healthy patients. The minister added that the new variant is likely to be driving the second wave of the infection.
The development arrives just days after the UK had reported similar findings.
Mkhize further stressed the necessity for Covid-19 public health measures such as social distancing, proper use of masks and washing hands regularly, to deter the spread of the virus.
Over the past 24 hours over 8,400 new cases have been identified bringing the total count to over 900,000. The country’s peak infection rate for the year stood at 12,000 earlier in July. Moreover, 24,845 fatalities have been reported in total.
