New Coronavirus mutant found in South Africa, what we know so far

A new variant of coronavirus has been found, which has links to South Africa as two cases belonging to this new category have been detected in the United Kingdom, British health secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed.

“Both of them have come in contact of those who have travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks”, said Hancock.

Here is everything we know about the Coronavirus mutant-

South Africa had detected the mutation earlier. It reported last week that scientists have found a new genetic mutation which might be responsible for the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in South Africa.

This South African variant is more transmissible than the UK variant, British health secretary has said, as this variant has mutated further than the UK variant.

The variant has been named as 501.V2, South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on Twitter.

“Clinicians have been providing anecdotal evidence of a shift in the clinical epidemiological picture- in particular noting that they are seeing a larger proportion of younger patients with no co-morbidities presenting with critical illness,” Zweli Mkhize said.

The new variant was discovered through routine surveillance by the laboratories in South Africa. Initially, the variant was confined to coastal regions, but has now entered inland.

Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Israel and Mauritius have banned flights from South Africa.

The South African variant may allow the virus to better bind to and enter cells than previous variants, which is why transmission rate is higher, scientists told The Guardian.