COVID-19

New variant causes concern

November 26, 2021 4:20 am

There is growing concern about a new variant of coronavirus.

The latest is the most heavily mutated version discovered so far – and it has such a long list of mutations that it was described by one scientist as “horrific”.

Confirmed cases are mostly concentrated in one province in South Africa, but there are hints it may have spread further.

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The variant is called B.1.1.529 and is likely to be given a Greek code-name (like the Alpha and Delta variants) by the World Health Organization.

It is also incredibly heavily mutated.

The concern is this virus is now radically different to the original that emerged in Wuhan, China and vaccines may not be as effective.