Eswatini, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa are the countries, according to the BBC news, that have been reported to have a New Covid Variant deadly and rapid spreading. On Thursday, these countries were added to the list made by the United Kingdom, updated by the World Health Organization.
Worry is surrounding some of the experts and researchers regarding the COVID 19 surging cases. In countries like Botswana, Hong Kong, and South Africa, almost 59 cases of this new variant have been recorded. This new variant is named the B.1.1.529. till now, about 22 cases have turned out to be of this variant in South Africa.
A month is still left for the year to complete, yet the previous year’s death record has been broken in the United States. Now with the upcoming holiday month, there will be a spike, and the number will even go further above than it currently is.
This Delta variant and its deadly impacts had already been too harsh on us, and now with these discoveries of new mutant types of COVID 19, it is scary. The coronavirus is mutating faster and transforming into newer, more harmful types, New York Times reported by the Innovation Sequencing Platform and KwaZulu-Natal Research’s director named Tulio de Oliveira. He thinks that the pandemic is not going to end anytime soon, and there are more surprises yet to come from this virus.
For vaccination and new treatments regarding the new variant detected, the World health organization has called upon the States for a joint meeting. In this meeting, all the important aspects will be discussed. Hopefully, a good solution will be put forward to control the new variant’s spread.
The virus’s behavior can be greatly impacted if there are so many mutations that occur in it. It could become deadlier, attacking different body systems, leading to different diseases and side effects. This increasing mutation of the coronavirus is serious and risky. It needs immediate attention, stated in the Social media question answers session of technical lead on Covid by the World Health organization named Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove. She said that the information regarding Covid 19 mutations and new emerging variants is not enough to draw any conclusion.
B.1.1.529 New Covid Variant is being keenly observed by the Health Security Agency of the United Kingdom:
According to the researchers, the Delta variant shows way more mutations than any other variant; these mutations are about five times more than the previous variants with its rapid spreading capability. The virus enters the human body cell through a receptor called ACE 2, and the delta variant shows about ten types of mutations while attacking this receptor.
New York Times stated that the researchers in South Africa said that the transmission is rapid by this new variant as it has thirty types of mutations occurring on the spike protein of our bodies. This is three times more than the delta variant.
By Analyzing multiple reports, it was found that the South African traveler reached Hong Kong along with this new variant, and from there, the spread has started within Hong Kong. Even the vaccination is not helping as vaccinated people also face infections with this new variant of B.1.1.529. There have been four such cases reported where the vaccinated pupil has been infected with this virus. The health ministries of Botswana send these Reports.
Less than two percentage points are the positivity ratio in California, and it is about thirty-one point seven percentage points in the Gauteng. In a statement, it was mentioned that from the total population of the country, about 25 percentage points were reported from Gauteng. While only considering Gauteng, the frequency was about Seventy percentage points.
The province of Limpopo, North West, and Gauteng are all facing a rapid increase in infections. The detected cases are more than before in the reports from one week, mentioned in a statement given by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa.
The National Centre for Infectious Diseases NCID’s executive director, Professor Adrian Puren, stated that the general public would be kept updated about the situation. The improvements are being made, and steps are being taken for the developments, and once they are finalized, it will be public for everyone to see, so there is no need to worry.
He further said that the potential harms or side effects this new variant could bring are being studied keenly, and surveillance systems are also being set up for this cause. The researchers and experts are trying their bests and working day and night in collecting data and information regarding this new variant. Soon, the information will be put together and made public for everyone to be aware of the current situation.
Last year, the second wave was seen of the Delta variant, which originated in India. If we compare the previous variants, Beta and Delta, with this new variant, we can see that the new variant has way more mutations than the Delta and Beta, which only had two to three mutations. These increasing mutations are dangerous as with these, the virus gains more antibody resistance which helps it survive within our bodies and become more contagious.
It was stated by de Oliveira that the PCR test can detect this new variant which is the only satisfactory news we have heard till now.
Whether this new variant will prove good or bad will be discussed in detail in the meeting that The World Health Organisation (WHO) has organized on Friday.
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