A new variant of Covid-19 detected in South Africa

The variant, known as C.1.2 it was honored last week by the Kwazulu Natal (Krisp) Research, Innovation and Sequencing Platform in an unpublished study.

While the majority of COVID-19 infections in South Africa are currently caused by the delta variant – first identified in India – C.1.2 has caught the attention of scientists because it mutates almost twice as fast as other variants already observed.

So far, C.1.2 has been detected in all South African provinces, as well as other parts of the world, particularly China, Mauritius, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

It is, however, uncommon to be categorized as an “interesting variant” or “disturbing variant”, as are the delta (the one that emerged in India) and beta (that appeared in South Africa in 2020), both variants. very contagious. .

NICD scientists assured Monday that C.1.2 is not “present but at low levels” and that it is too early to determine its evolution.

“At this level, we do not have experimental data to confirm how it reacts in terms of sensitivity to antibodies,” said Penny Moore, researcher at NICD.

South Africa is the most affected country on the African continent, with 2.7 million cases recorded to date, including 81,830 deaths.