South Africa has detected a new COVID-19 variant with multiple mutations. read here

“Unfortunately we have detected a new variant that is a cause for concern in South Africa,” virologist Tulio de Oliveira told a hastily convened news conference.

It has also been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong among travelers from South Africa, he said.

The new variant, called B.1.1529, contains an unusually large number of mutations, said François Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute, in a statement published by the Science Media Center. This is more likely to develop during the course of a chronic infection of an immune-compromised person, possibly in an untreated HIV/AIDS patient, he said.

“It’s hard to predict how permeable it might be at this stage,” Balloux said. “At the moment, it needs to be closely monitored and analyzed, but there is no reason to be overly concerned, unless it starts going up in frequency. In the near future.”

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement that South Africa has detected 22 such cases.

“It is not surprising that a new variant has been detected in South Africa,” Adrian Pooran, NICD’s Executive Director, said in the statement. “Although the data are limited, our experts are working overtime with all established monitoring systems to understand the new ones. What are the different types and potential impacts. Developments are happening at a rapid pace and the public has our assurance that we Will keep them up to date.”

Health Minister Joe Fahla said the version was of “grave concern” and was behind an “exponential” increase in reported cases.

The number of daily infections jumped to more than 1,200 on Wednesday from about 100 earlier this month.

South Africa detected the beta version of the virus last year, though so far infection numbers have been driven by the delta version, which was originally detected in India.

South Africa has the highest number of epidemics in Africa, with about 2.95 million cases, of which 89,657 are fatal.