Men and those in the older age group are more likely to develop severe and critical cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), based on the initial results of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine’s (RITM) study on the clinical characteristics and transmission patterns of COVID-19.
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significantly different and it has 32 mutations around the spiked proteins, the area of the virus that important and when it s infectious, and some of these mutations we know about because we see them in other variants but they mutations are totally new and it s this constellation of mutations that we don t understand well yet, so that s why concern at the moment and of course we are looking at the transmission patterns in south africa where it has seemed to displace which had been dominant in all the countries. bud displace which had been dominant in all the countries. all the countries. and case numbers risin: in all the countries. and case numbers rising in all all the countries. and case numbers rising in all the all the countries. and case numbers rising in all the provinces all the countries. and case numbers rising in all the provinces in - all the countries. and case numbers rising in all the provinces in south i rising in all the provinces in south africa. the who also s
these are all unknown questions we need to address now. you mentioned vaccine, and i think that s what a lot of people will be wondering, how effective they are and whether there are any differences between different brands of vaccines. yes, absolutely. if we look at the mutants, or the variants that have occurred so far, we know that the delta has had the most effect on breakthrough for vaccines. so, as we speak today, we truly really don t know remember, this is all happening quickly, the first cases were diagnosed on identified around 23 november, and today is 25 november. we must recognise and appreciate the efforts of the government of south africa and these researchers in making available such findings very quickly. so, it means we still have to follow up the transmission
and some of these mutations we know about because we ve seen them in other variants. but other mutations are totally new and it s this constellation of mutations that we don t really understand very well yet. that s why it is of particular concern at the moment. of course we are looking at the transmission patterns in south africa, where it has seemed to displace the delta variant, which had been dominant in the country. the case numbers are rising in all of the provinces in south africa. the who also says there is preliminary evidence of an increased risk of reinfection. is that of people who have already had covid? yes, that would be. that s basically because some of those mutations are mutations that
and these researchers in making available such findings very quickly. so, it means we still have to follow up the transmission patterns and the dynamics of the epidemic, or the evolution of the pandemic over the next couple weeks in order to be able to establish the effect on vaccine effectiveness and also diagnosis, and the severity of the disease. we also have to keep that in mind, any increase in transmission actually leads to increase in the severity of the disease. with just a few months to go to the winter olympics, china is holding test events for ski and snowboard cross. but, despite repeated calls from the olympic committee not to politicise the event, some countries are considering boycotting the games in light of china s human rights violations and the recent concerns over the wellbeing of chinese tennis star, peng shuai. 0ur china correspondent, stephen mcdonnell, has been to the venue, to see how