JOHANNESBURG South Africa has announced that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus is driving the country s resurgence of the disease, with higher numbers of confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
According to health officials and scientists leading the country’s virus strategy, the new variant, known as 501.V2, is dominant among new confirmed infections in South Africa’s current wave.
The new strain, different from the one in Britain, appears to be more infectious than the original virus. South African scientists are studying if the vaccines against COVID-19 will also offer protection against the new strain.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, chairman of the government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee, said in a briefing to journalists that the preliminary data suggests that the new strain of the virus is now dominating South Africa s new wave which is spreading faster than the first.
The Latest: Europe takes steps to contain new virus strain
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PARIS A croaky-voiced French President Emmanuel Macron held a cabinet meeting Monday via video, in which he indicated the French could enforce “systematic tests” as a condition for French nationals returning from Britain to France for the holidays.
Macron, in stable condition, has been working from home at the Elysee Palace as he recovers from his COVID-19 infection.
Macron said that the “problematic virus mutation” identified in southern England caused the U.K. “to take exceptional decisions on Saturday and accelerate the measure of closures and constraint.” It brought France to suspend all travel and freight from the U.K. until Wednesday.
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December 21, 2020
JOHANNESBURG South Africa has announced that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus is driving the country’s resurgence of the disease, with higher numbers of confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
According to health officials and scientists leading the country’s virus strategy, the new variant, known as 501.V2, is dominant among new confirmed infections in South Africa’s current wave.
The new strain, different from the one in Britain, appears to be more infectious than the original virus. South African scientists are studying if the vaccines against COVID-19 will also offer protection against the new strain.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, chairman of the government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee, said in a briefing to journalists that the preliminary data suggests that the new strain of the virus is now dominating South Africa’s new wave which is spreading faster than the first.
People who were just tested for COVID-19 wait in line to make payment for the test at a private laboratory in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday Dec. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Surfers carry their boards along the beach front at Manly on the northern beaches in Sydney, Australia, Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
People wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus make their way toward a station in Tokyo Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. Daily coronavirus cases have been steadily on the rise nationwide. (Kenzaburo Fukuhara/Kyodo News via AP) Previous Next
Monday, December 21, 2020 9:00 am
South Africa says new strain driving resurgence
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