Covid, new variant in Botswana and South Africa: it is alarm

Scientists sound the alarm about a new variant of Covid, first identified on November 11 in Botswana, which has a “huge number of variations” that could allow the virus to bypass immunity. So far there are only 10 confirmed cases, in three countries, of variant B.1.1.529, which contains 32 variations of the spike protein, the part of the virus that most vaccines use to create immunity against Covid. In addition to the three cases in Botswana, the variant was identified in South Africa, in six cases, and in Hong Kong, in a patient who had just returned from South Africa. The man had tested negative for the swab on his arrival in Hong Kong, but tested positive two days later while undergoing quarantine, the Guardian reported today. Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, posted some details about this variant on a website, noting that “the incredibly high amount of spike mutations suggests this could be a real concern.”