By Tyler Durden
Scientists in South Africa have identified a new variant that “has all of the signatures of immune escape” and very well could be the source of the next variant-driven wave of COVID cases around the world.
The variant, known a C.1.2 – it isn’t important enough yet to deserve a Greek-letter shorthand – was first identified in May in the provinces of Mpumalanga and Gauteng, where Johannesburg and SA’s capital, Pretoria, are located. As of Aug. 13, the variant has been found in six of South Africa’s nine provinces as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius, Portugal and Switzerland. Even New Zealand has reported a case of the variant in its most recent outbreak, per Bloomberg.
