The Epoch Times A new variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus has been detected in South Africa, its health minister, Joe Phaahla, announced Thursday.
Scientists say the new variant is a concern because it has a high number of mutations and spreads rapidly among young people in Gauteng, the countryâs most populous province, he said at an online press briefing.
âOver the last four or five days, there has been more of an exponential rise [in new infections],â he said of South Africaâs case numbers of the CCP virus.
A surge in cases, which appeared to be cluster outbreaks from student gatherings in Pretoria and Tshwane, prompted scientists to study the genomic sequencing and subsequently discover the new variant, Phaahla said.
Scientists in South Africa are now working to determine what percentage of the new cases have been caused by the new variant, identified as B.1.1.529.
10 Confirmed Cases to Date
To date, 10 cases of the new variant have been confirmed by genomic sequencing, with three cases in Botswana, where it was first detected; six cases in South Africa; and one case in Hong Kong, in a traveler from South Africa.
In the past week, daily new cases in South Africa rapidly increased from around over 200 to more than 1,200 on Wednesday. On Thursday, the number almost doubled to 2,465…
