South Africa became the first country on its continent to register more than one million Covid-19 cases after a new variant of coronavirus was identified.
Since the start of the pandemic, the country has recorded a total of 1,453,761 cases and 44,164 coronavirus deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The identification of the mutated strain of Covid-19 in South Africa prompted the UK to introduce a travel ban which includes the suspension of direct flights from the country.
Experts in the UK are now seeking to urgently test 80,000 people in England for Covid-19 after it emerged that the South African strain of the virus may have spread in some regions.
Here is all you need to know about the new variant:
What is the South African coronavirus variant?
The new Covid-19 variant, known as 501.V2, was identified by a team of South African scientists in the Eastern Cape province.
As with another new variant first identified in the UK, the South African varian has changes in the “spike” protein that suggest it is more infectious.
The two variants share the N501Y mutation, but the South African strain also includes mutations known as E484K and K417N.
It is said to differ from other variants because it has multiple mutations in the important spike protein that the virus uses to infect human cells.
How many cases of the variant have been detected in the UK?
As of January 30, a total of 105 cases of the South African variant have been identified across the UK.
After two positive cases of the variant were detected in Surrey with no links to travel or previous variant cases, Surrey County Council announced it would carry out a localised “surge testing” programme in areas of Woking.
Ruth Hutchinson, Director of Public Health for Surrey, said the testing programme was a “precautionary measure” prevent the variant from spreading further.
Health officials said a total of 11 people had been identified over the last five or six days who have tested positive for the variant, but who have no links to travel.
This suggests there may pockets of spread in local communities of the new variant, with the possibility of further cases.
Experts from Public Health England (PHE), who have been sequencing around 5 per cent to 10 per cent of all positive cases looking for variants, are now hoping to break any chains of transmission. All but two areas involved single cases of the variant.
Mobile testing units and some home testing kits are being sent into the affected areas of London, the West Midlands, East of England, South East and the North West.
The areas are: Hanwell, west London; Tottenham, north London; Mitcham, south London; Walsall in the West Midlands; Broxbourne, Hertfordshire; Maidstone, Kent; Woking, Surrey; and Southport, Merseyside.
Dr Susan Hopkins, strategic response director at PHE, said: “As part of our proactive sequencing work, we know that the new variant of Covid-19 first detected in South Africa has been identified in a number of areas across England.
“A small proportion of these cases have no link to international travel suggesting that there are some cases in the community.
“In response to this, we are ramping up testing in targeted areas, so we can gather more information and effectively monitor any further community transmission.”
What have experts said about the effects of vaccines on the new variant?
Scientists at Porton Down are researching whether vaccines will be effective against the new Covid variant.
Boris Johnson told a Downing Street news conference in January that the Government will use its New Variant Assessment Platform to work with the World Health Organisation because a “new variant anywhere poses a potential threat everywhere”.
During a visit to Batley in West Yorkshire on Monday, Mr Johnson played down fears about vaccines being ineffective against variant coronavirus.
The Prime Minister told reporters: “We are confident that all the vaccines that we are using provide a high degree of immunity and protection against all variants.”
He said the vaccines could be adapted to deal with new variants if necessary.
“The fact is we are going to be living with Covid for a while to come in one way or another, I don’t think it will be as bad as the last 12 months – or anything like – of course, but it’s very, very important that our vaccines continue to develop and to adapt, and they will,” said Mr Johnson.
Pfizer and BioNTech released further results on January 27 of their early studies which showed their vaccine was effective against the UK and South African variants of Covid-19.
The research, was not yet been peer reviewed, showed a less than two-fold reduction in antibody levels against the South African variant.
BioNTech said that while the early findings do not indicate the need for a new vaccine for the emerging variants, the company is prepared to respond if in the future a new variant of the virus shows evidence of escaping immunity from the vaccine.
PHE’s Dr Hopkins recently welcomed the “reassuring news” that the Janssen and Novamax vaccines are effective against the variant identified in South Africa.
She told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “The Janssen vaccine and the Novamax suggest that it was at least 60 per cent (effective) against the South African variant, so I think that is reassuring news.
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“I think that we will learn more about these vaccinations as we start rolling them out more widely in the population.”
She said she expected all of the vaccines to have similar levels of effectiveness against variants like the South African one.
She added: “I think it’s hard to imagine how the different vaccines won’t have similar levels of effectiveness, I think they would have at least 50 per cent, maybe even more.
“We clearly will need to study all of them in terms of looking at how they respond to the population in South Africa, where I know there are a number of studies going on at the moment.”
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said it was crucial to roll out as many vaccines as possible to prevent the spread of mutated strains of the virus.
He told Today: “In the future I think we will see variants that escape from the vaccines. The thing to do at the moment is to vaccinate as many people as we can in the world to drive down the amount of transmission and prevent these new variants coming.
“That’s in our national interests, it’s in an equitable and ethical interest, and it’s in the world’s interests to do so.”
