The discovery of a new variant of coronaviruses in South Africa this week has sparked fears of a more transmissible, possibly vaccine-resistant virus and has sent shockwaves through global markets as governments around the world bar travel from the region.
A new variant of coronaviruses has been identified.
The images are from the same source.
Researchers detected B. 1.1.529 in South Africa this week, and it appears to be driving a surge of infections in the province.
There are cases in Hong Kong, Belgium, Israel and Botswana, where the variant was first identified.
The variant has a high number of mutations and may be able to evade the immunity of the vaccine due to its high number of genes.
The new variant may be replacing the delta variant rapidly in affected regions and already accounts for 75% and 90% of the cases being sequenced in the two provinces.
The U.K., France, Italy, Germany, Israel and Japan were among the countries that banned travel from parts of the south African region.
The variant triggered a selloff in global markets, with the Dow and Japan's Nikkei 225 dropping more than 2.5% and the FTSE 100 and France's CAC40 all down by between 3.2% and 4.3%.
The World Health Organization is going to discuss the variant Friday. The meeting will decide if the variant should be classified as a variant of interest or concern, the agency's system to keep track of the changes that can affect the virus' behavior. Transmissibility, resistance to vaccines and disease severity are some of the characteristics of the virus that are known to be affected by certain variant of interest. The criteria for being a variant of interest and having more significant changes is included in the list of "Variants of concern". The next Greek letter is likely to be named "nu" if named. The WHO began naming variant after the Greek alphabet in May to avoid stigma associated with a variant being named after a location.
The quote is crucial.
Sajid Javid, the U.K. health minister, said that the new variant could pose a risk to public health.
The key background.
Many of the changes in the virus are normal and expected in the evolution of the virus. Scientists are racing to figure out if the variant is able to evade vaccine protection or if it is more transmissible. Scientists were surprised by the high number of mutations in areas relevant to vaccine-derived immunity. The WHO has urged countries to make travel bans that are in proportion to the known risks. The White House chief medical advisor said more data is needed before the US blocks flights from some parts of southern Africa.
Travelers from Southern Africa are subject to restrictions from the U.K. and Israel.
Scientists think the new variant may have emerged in an HIV patient.
