Scientists in South Africa have discovered a new viral variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but it’s not spreading widely and the tools we have in place work.
Scientists in South Africa have discovered a new viral variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
It’s not a single virus but a clustering of genetically similar viruses, known as C.1.2.
The researchers, in a pre-print study released last week but yet to be peer-reviewed, found this cluster has picked up a lot of mutations in a short period of time.
Indeed, this is what viruses do. They continually evolve and mutate due to selective pressures but also because of opportunity, luck and chance.
C.1.2 has some concerning individual mutations. But we don’t really know how they’ll work together as a package. And it’s too early to tell how these variants will affect humans compared with other variants.
There’s no need to panic. It’s not spreading widely, and it’s not at Australia’s doorstep. The tools we have in place work against SARS-CoV-2, whatever the variant.
Will it be more infectious or severe?
C.1.2 is distinct from but on a genetic branch near the Lambda variant, which is common in Peru.
It has some concerning individual mutations. But we don’t know how these mutations will work altogether, and we can’t predict how bad a variant will be based on mutations alone.
