JOHANNESBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2021) A new coronavirus variant that was first detected in South Africa and dubbed C.1.2 is not currently dangerous to the world's population, but might pose risks in the future, Angelique Coetzee, the chairperson of the South African Medical Association, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
A pre-print report published by medRxiv in late August showed that the new strain was spreading at a rate typical for the most dangerous Beta and Delta strains when they first appeared in South Africa.
"For now, it cannot be compared to the Beta or the Delta variants, but it might pose a threat in [the] future. It is currently not a variant of concern because, according to the tests, it is still at zero percent, but should it move to 20 percent infection rate, then there will be a high possibility that it will be dangerous and it will be given a name," Coetzee said.
The new variant developed from the original virus, which was initially detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the expert said, adding that a genome test showed that it was slowly developing.
Coetzee believes that the new variant may be a problem during the fourth wave of the pandemic, which is not expected anytime soon.
The C.1.2 coronavirus strain was first detected in South Africa in May and evolved from the so-called Belta variant identified in the country in late 2020-early 2021. The new strain has since spread across the African nation and several other countries of the continent.
