Fears over new COVID-19 variant, South Africa faces isolation

South Africa: South Africa is facing greater isolation as more countries have banned discovering a new strain of the coronavirus.

Israel, Turkey, Germany, Saudi Arabia, and Switzerland and many others are among the countries that have halted air travel to and from South Africa following the announcement that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus has been introduced in South Africa with higher numbers of the disease. Running the disease of Africa’s resurgence. Cases, hospitals and deaths.

According to health officials and scientists leading the country’s virus strategy, the new version, known as 501.V2, is a staple in recently confirmed infections in South Africa’s current wave.

A new strain isolated from the one in the United Kingdom appears to be more infectious than the original virus.

South African scientists are studying whether vaccines against COVID-19 will also provide protection against the new strain.

Professor Salim Abdul Karim, chairman of the government’s COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee, said in a briefing to journalists on Monday that initial data suggested that the new tension was dominating South Africa’s latest wave, which was spreading compared to the first is.

In response to the revival of COVID-19, the South African government introduced strict lockdown restrictions, including limited days and hours to shut down beaches in areas identified as liquor trade and hotspots.

Despite this, Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa reported from Johannesburg that the mood in the country was “festive”.

“You see people coming to the beaches; they have parties. Some are wearing masks; others are not, ”she said, adding that the flight sector was a setback for the tourism sector.

“The tourism industry of South Africa relied heavily on people coming from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other parts of the world at this time of year.

“Now, these businesses are feeling the pressure. Many hotels in Durban are closed. In Johannesburg, several large hotel chains are also closed. Many people are losing work. ”

South Africa currently has more than 8,500 people hospitalized with COVID-19, surpassing the previous high of a record 8,300 in August.

A total of 930,711 virus cases have been reported in South Africa so far, including 24,907 deaths.