The UK says it will also refuse entry to South Africans and others, who had been in the Southern African region in the previous 10 days, as a safety measure. The 6 countries now on the UK’s red list for travel, as of 2pm today is, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Meanwhile: The B.1.1.529-coronavirus variant, which will be given a name by the World Health Organisation during the course of today is likely to be classified as a Variant under Investigation. There have been no cases of the new variant, so far, in the United Kingdom.
At the same time: One of the country’s leading virus experts, Prof. Tulio de Oliveira has said, vaccines remain a critical tool to protect from severe forms of covid-19. This, after the virus was discovered during genomic sequencing collaborations between the NICD and private laboratories. The resurgence of cases in Gauteng has also given rise to scientists examining the matter more closely. De Oliveira says the variant, with an exceptionally high amount of mutations, is of concern, as it may be more transmissible and could possibly evade immunity.
Still with the story and Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla says it’s very important to make the information about the new variant available to the public as soon as possible. Phaahla says Government had hoped that the onset of the 4th wave could be delayed. New infections, especially in Gauteng, are being driven by the new variant, and it has also been detected in smaller numbers in the other provinces. Phaahla says they were initially optimistic that the resurgence in Gauteng was due to cluster outbreaks.
