The World Health Organization (WHO) has said four countries including Botswana, Gambia, Kenya, and Zambia have detected the Covid-19 virus variant that was first identified in South Africa late last year, reported The BBC.
Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, attributed the spread of the coronavirus to the movement of people across the continent.
“It may also be that the new strain is circulating in different African countries but has not been identified. We are now working with scientists in different laboratories with the capacity to determine the complete DNA of the virus to boost their surveillance,” Dr. Moeti said during a virtual press conference.
Kenya’s Health Director-General, Patrick Amoth, revealed that the variant was found on two South African passengers who had traveled to Kenya one month ago.
Dr. Amoth said the health authorities were able to detect the new strain from samples collected during routine testing of people entering the country.
South Africa is the worst-hit country by the pandemic in the continent, with more than 1.3 million cases and over 38,000 deaths to date. A team of researchers from three South African Universities working with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases found that the current vaccines being used may not be effective against the new strain.
On Thursday, the WHO said Africa has recorded nearly 82,000 deaths due to the coronavirus in its second wave, higher than when the first wave of the virus hit the continent in 2020.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the continent has recorded around 3.3 million covid-19 cases.
Dr. Moeti said Africa is facing a second wave in the Covid-19 pandemic with more than 3.3 million cases and 81,000 lives lost. He added that the WHO COVAX program aims to deliver 600 million doses of the vaccine to the continent by the end of 2021.
