New Covid-19 variant discovered in southern Africa triggers sudden global alarm and travel bans.
the variant includes a large number of mutations that may change its behavior with regard to vaccines, treatments and transmissibility.
About 41 percent of South Africa’s adults have been vaccinated and the number of shots being given per day is relatively low.The variant was found earlier this week in South Africa and Botswana and while the extent of its spread has yet to be determined, a few cases were soon confirmed beyond Africa.Thursday that it had detected two cases, while Belgium became the first E.U. country to announce a case of the variant on Friday.
South Africa has been Africa's worst-hit country in terms of total reported cases and deaths, but had been experiencing a lull in infections until last week.The WHO warned that it would take a few weeks for it to understand the impact this variant has. South Africa also pushed back against the U.K.'s temporary ban on flights from the region, describing it as"rushed."
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