A new breakout of variants of COVID-19 with higher degrees of transmissibility compared to the original virus is occurring in the African region
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of the Congo — A new breakout of variants of COVID-19 with higher degrees of transmissibility compared to the original virus, is occurring in the African region. With the recent emergence, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries to boost genomic surveillance and analysis through the African genome sequencing laboratory network to detect any new mutations and strengthen the efforts to curb the pandemic. South Africa recently detected a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, which appears to transmit more easily and is likely linked to the ongoing surge of COVID-19 infections in the country. Further analysis is underway to determine the full epidemiological significance of this mutation. Nigeria is also carrying out more investigations on a variant identified in samples collected in August and October.
