South Africa has announced that a new variant of the Covid-19 virus is increasing the deadly disease spread, with higher numbers of confirmed cases, hospitalisations and deaths. The new variant, named as 501.V2, is dominant among new South African confirmed infections, according to health officials and scientists leading the country's virus strategy. 

“It is still very early but at this stage, the preliminary data suggests the virus that is now dominating in the second wave is spreading faster than the first wave,” said the Professor Salim Abdool Karim, chairman of the government's Ministerial Advisory Committee, in a briefing to the Journalists. Abdool Karim added that South Africa may see “many more cases” in the new wave than it experienced in the first surge of the disease. The country has more than 8,500 people hospitalised with Covid-19, surpassing the previous high of 8,300 recorded during the first wave in the month of August. 

The new strain found in South Africa is different from the one in Britain, appears to be more infectious than the original virus. South African scientists are involved in studying if the vaccines against Covid-19 will also offer protection against the new strain. South Africa is undergoing clinical tests of different vaccines including Astrazeneca. The scientists involved in studying the new variant emphasised that preventive measures like wearing masks and social distancing are unavoidable. The country has recorded a total of 912, 477 cases, including 24,539 deaths. The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has more than doubled over the past two weeks, from 6.47 new cases per 100,000 people on December 6 to 14.68 new cases per 100,000 people on December 20 also the deaths. 

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