What is omicron, the South African variant of the coronavirus?

The scientists south africans identified this week a new version of the coronavirus which, they said, is responsible for the recent rise in COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, the country’s most populous province.

It is not clear where the new variant originated, but scientists first detected it in South Africa, and it has now been seen in travelers arriving in Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong and Israel.

South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the variant was linked to an “exponential increase” in cases in recent days, although experts are still trying to determine whether the new variant is actually responsible.

After registering just over 200 new confirmed cases a day in recent weeks, South Africa saw the number skyrocket to 2,465 on Thursday. Unable to explain the sudden increase in cases, the scientists studied samples of the virus from the outbreak and discovered the new variant.

In a statement issued on Friday, the World Health Organization designated it a “worrying variant” and called it “omicron,” after the letter of the Greek alphabet.

After convening a group of experts to evaluate the data, the WHO said that “preliminary tests indicate an increased risk of reinfection with this variant”, compared to other variants.

“The number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all the provinces of South Africa,” the WHO noted.

Why are scientists concerned about this new variant?

It appears to have a high number of mutations in the coronavirus spike protein, about 30, which could affect how easily it spreads to people.

Sharon Peacock, who has led the genetic sequencing of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 in Britain, at the University of Cambridge, said data so far indicate that the new variant has mutations “consistent with increased transmissibility,” but commented that “the meaning of many of the mutations is not yet known.”

Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, described the omicron as “the most mutated version of the virus that we have seen,” including potentially worrying changes never before seen in the virus itself.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious disease expert, said US authorities had arranged a call with their South African counterparts later Friday for more details, and said there was no indication that the variant had still arrived in the United States.

What is known and what is not known about the variant?

Scientists know that omicron is genetically different from previous variants, including beta and delta variants, but they don’t know if these genetic changes make it more transmissible or dangerous. So far, there is no indication that the variant causes a more serious illness.

It will probably take weeks to find out if omicron is more infectious and if vaccines are still effective against it.

Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, said it was “extremely unlikely” that current vaccines will not work, noting that they are effective against other variants.

Although some of the genetic changes in the omicron variant seem concerning, it is not yet clear whether they will pose a threat to public health. Some earlier variants, such as the beta variant, initially alarmed scientists, but did not end up getting very widespread.

“We don’t know if this new variant could take hold in the regions where the delta is,” said Peacock of the University of Cambridge. “It is not known whether this variant will be successful where other variants circulate.” To date, the delta variant is by far the most predominant form of the coronavirus causing COVID-19, accounting for more than 99% of the sequences submitted to the world’s largest public database.

How did this new variant come about?

The coronavirus mutates as it spreads, and many of the newer variants, including those with worrisome genetic changes, often just disappear. Scientists monitor the sequences of the coronavirus for mutations that may make it more transmissible or deadly, but they cannot determine this simply by looking at the virus.

Peacock conjectured that the variant “may have evolved in someone who became infected but was unable to eliminate the virus, giving the virus the opportunity to evolve genetically”, in a scenario similar to how experts believe that the alpha variant also emerged – which was identified for the first time in England_, by mutating into an immunosuppressed person.

Are the travel restrictions that some countries are imposing justified?

Maybe. Starting at noon on Friday, travelers arriving in the UK from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Zimbabwe will have to self-quarantine for 10 days.

European Union (EU) countries also decided on Friday to ban air travel from southern Africa, and the United States said it would ban travel from South Africa and seven other African countries to foreigners starting Monday.

Given the recent rapid rise of COVID-19 in South Africa, restricting travel from the region is “prudent” and would allow authorities to buy time, said Neil Ferguson, an infectious disease expert at Imperial College London.

Jeffrey Barrett, Director of COVID-19 Genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, believes that early detection of the new variant could mean that the restrictions adopted now will have a greater impact than when the delta variant first appeared.

“In the case of the delta variant, it was many weeks of the terrible wave in India before it was known what was happening, and the delta variant had already spread to many parts of the world and it was too late to do anything at all. respect ”, he pointed out. “It is possible that we are ahead of that situation with this new variant, so there may still be time to do something about it.”