SA IDENTIFIES NEW VARIANT, ALERTS ESWATINI

MBABANE – As researchers in South Africa have identified a potential SARS-CoV-2 variant of interest, the Kingdom of Eswatini has been made aware and is now watching closely.

Director of Health Services in the Ministry of Health Dr Vusi Magagula said the country was aware of the new developments in the neighbouring country. He said the potential new variant was a new thing; hence its details were still limited. It is worth noting that due to Eswatini’s proximity to South Africa, anything happening in that country often quickly affects the kingdom as well. For instance, when South Africa reported its first Delta variant case, it took a few weeks then Eswatini confirmed to have the Delta variant.

So far, the country has confirmed only three variants; Delta variant (B.1.617.2), the Beta variant (B.1.351), which was initially first discovered in South Africa and is the most dominant, currently in the kingdom. The Alpha variant (B.1.1.7), which was first detected in the United Kingdom (UK), is also present in the country. Dr Magagula said the country was still working towards having its own testing laboratories to avoid relying on South Africa. He said currently the country was also using Kenya, where it was sending its samples for testing.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: