health Minister Matt Hancock (Xia Guoxian) said two confirmed cases of a new variant of coronavirus have been identified in the United Kingdom.
The two confirmed cases were found in London and the northwest of England, and both patients had contact with people who had traveled to South Africa.
The UK currently has travel restrictions in place for South Africa. Anyone who has traveled to South Africa in the past 14 days, and their close contacts, are required to self-quarantine immediately.
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This variant of the virus is attracting increasing attention in South Africa. South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize warned that “young people and previously healthy people are getting sick.”
He said his country “cannot afford to go through the experience of the early days of the AIDS pandemic again.”
South African scientists say this variant of the virus is spreading rapidly and is the main cause of confirmed cases in parts of the country.
The variant of the virus is still being analyzed, but data show it is spreading faster.
The variant of the virus was first detected in the United Kingdom on Tuesday (Dec. 22).
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Virus outbreak
The new variant has some similarities to the variant previously found in the UK, although they developed separately.
Both have a mutation called “N501Y,” which is a key part of the virus used to infect human cells.
“I think the biggest concern at the moment is the situation in South Africa,” said Neil Ferguson, a professor at Imperial College London.
“What is certain is that there has been an outbreak of a variant of the virus in South Africa, with a dramatic increase in confirmed cases.”
Hancock also told a Downing Street press conference that there is high concern about the new variant of the virus in South Africa and that anyone in quarantine must avoid all contact with anyone else.
At the same briefing, he announced the escalation of more localities to Level 4 preparedness to contain the virus, which is estimated to affect millions of people.
Dr. Susan Hopkins from the U.K. Public Health Department (PHE) said the two variants of the virus appear to be more transmissible. They are still analyzing the variant that came to the U.K. from South Africa.
She added that she is “very confident” that the spread of the new variant can be controlled with quarantine and travel restrictions.
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South African reaction
BBC correspondent Farouk Chusia Farouk Chothia
The government has tightened restrictions during the holiday season, including the closure of the famous Garden Route beach in the Western Cape.
It faced flak from the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and some groups who challenged the decision in court, arguing the beach closures would have a devastating impact on small businesses. But the judges upheld the restrictions, saying the government had a responsibility to protect people’s health.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winder said the province’s hospitals were under “severe pressure. The province has more cases of Covid-19 this time than during the first wave.
So far, South Africa has registered 9.5 million confirmed cases and more than 25,000 deaths, the highest in Africa.
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