New variant of the coronavirus detected in South Africa: what symptoms does it present and how contagious is it?

The announcement in South Africa of the detection of a new variant of the coronavirus, identified as B.1.1.529 and presenting multiple mutations, triggered a wave of international concern on Friday despite the relatively low number of cases identified to date.

While experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) meet this Friday to analyze the implications of this new variant, these are, according to scientists from South Africa, which was the first country on Thursday to give the alert about its detection.

A number of mutations that surprised scientists

The new variant presents, as admitted on Thursday by Professor Tulio de Oliveira, from the KwaZulu-Natal Research and Sequencing Innovation Platform (KRISP, a scientific institution in eastern South Africa, a leader in genomic research in the region). .

In total, there are more than thirty mutations, among which there are some common to those already seen before in variants such as Beta or Delta, but also some new ones whose impact is still unknown.

What symptoms does it present?

Although confirmed cases of this variant are still few (around a hundred), in South Africa, the country with the highest incidence to date, for the moment compared to other variants.

“Currently no derivatives of infection with variant B.1.1.529 have been reported and, as with other variants, some individuals are asymptomatic,” said the South African National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NICD) today. in an FAQ release.

What are the consequences in terms of transmission and vaccines?

For now, since research is at a very early stage, of the virus and its possible resistance to vaccines.

“Based on our understanding of mutations in this lineage, partial immunity evasion is likely, but vaccines still likely offer high levels of protection against hospitalization and death.”, specifies the NICD.

Scientists from South Africa also point out that it is possible that the new variant detected in recent days in the country – especially in the populous province of Gauteng (where Johannesburg and Pretoria are located) – and the data suggest that it is dominating the Delta.

In which countries has it been detected?

South Africa was the first country to publicly raise the alarm on Thursday, with 22 cases identified (a figure later updated to 77). The first confirmation in this country had occurred on November 23 according to samples collected in the middle of the month.

The new variant had also been identified in Botswana (4 cases) around the same dates and was also detected in a traveler in Hong Kong, China who had been to South Africa. This Friday, Israel also announced the detection of the new variant in an infected person who had been to Malawi.

Travel restrictions

The announcement of the new variant caused several European countries, where the pandemic is worsening, despite the rejection of the World Health Organization (WHO) and hours before the first case was detected in Belgium.

The first country to shield itself was the United Kingdom, which announced on Thursday that it will ban the entry of people from six African countries: South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Eswatini (or Swaziland) as of Friday.

This Friday, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Twitter that she will propose “Activate the emergency brake to interrupt flights from the southern African region” during a meeting scheduled for Friday.

But several countries, such as Germany, France and Italy, did not wait for the go-ahead from Brussels.

Agencies

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