Dr Richard Lessells: Everything we know so far about the new variant
A new COVID-19 variant has been detected in South Africa. Breakfast with Martin Bester spoke to an infectious disease specialist, Dr Richard Lessells, about what South Africans can expect.
The variant, known as B.1.1.529, has 10 different mutations and was detected in the last 36 hours.
COVID-19 cases continue to increase, especially in Gauteng.
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Health Minister Joe Phaahla and a panel of experts confirmed that while some information about the variant remains unclear, they do know that it's spreading fast.
Health officials briefed the media on Thursday morning.
The origin of the variant is unknown and has already been detected in Botswana and Hong Kong.
READ: New Covid-19 cases in South Africa more than double in 24 hours
Breakfast with Martin Bester spoke to an infectious disease specialist, Dr Richard Lessells, about the new variant and what South Africans can expect.
"There is a lot of uncertainty. As we start putting together data we will know more about the variant.
"The vaccines remain a critical tool to keep us out of the hospital.
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"One of the things that surprised us most about this variant is that it is another and different variant which doesn't look like the Delta variant."
Lessells also mentioned that the variant "came out of the blue."
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