Shoppers stand in a queue while they wait to enter the Jabulani Mall in Soweto, on March 31, 2020. As of December 18, 2020 , South Africa had recorded 892,813 known cases of Covid-19 with 24,000 known deaths. PHOTO | AFP
A new variant (lineage) of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes the coronavirus disease, has been detected in South Africa, scientists have announced.
South Africa’s Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize said the new variant of the virus, known as 501.V2, was fuelling the ongoing second wave of Covid-19 infections in the southern country. Sars-CoV-2, like all viruses, mutates with time.
