Scientists in South Africa say they have detected a new variant of COVID-19.
The country’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases announced in a new study Monday that the variant, which has been designated “C.1.2,” was first detected in South Africa in May of this year, and has since spread to seven other countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the South Pacific region of Oceania.
A total of 109 cases have been detected in South Africa, according to the South African daily Business Day. The newspaper said the variant is also present in Botswana, Mauritius, the Democratic Republic of Congo, New Zealand, Portugal and Switzerland.
According to scientists, the C.1.2 variant appears to have the same characteristics as other mutations that are more transmissible and more likely to take over a person’s immune system. The study has not yet been published, nor has it gone through the normal peer review process. Scientists say they continue to monitor the frequency of variant C.1.2 and that it has not evolved as a “variant of interest” or “variant of concern” according to guidelines set by the World Health Organization.