Botswana confirms presence of COVID-19 variant discovered in South Africa ANI | Updated: Jan 27, 2021 09:50 IST
Gaborone [Botswana], January 27 (ANI/Xinhua): Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI) has confirmed the presence of the COVID-19 new variant 501Y.V2 first detected in neighbouring country, South Africa.
The BITRI said on Tuesday that it confirmed the new variant in collaboration with the National Health Laboratory through nanopore whole genome sequencing technology. This technology will be used in genomic surveillance to determine the distribution and prevalence of this variant and other unique lineage in Botswana, said BITRI in a statement.
According to health experts, the whole-genome sequencing provides a vast amount of information and the highest possible resolution for pathogen sub-typing.