South Africa Rebuffs UK’s Claim That Its COVID-19 Variant Is More Dangerous

South Africa has dismissed the United Kingdom’s claim that the new variant of COVID-19 found in the African nation is more dangerous than the one found in England. South African Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize has said that the statements made by his British counterpart Matt Hancock suggesting the new COVID-19 strain discovered in South Africa is more dangerous than the one in the UK are “not correct”.

Mkhize was referring to Matt Hancock’s comment from Thursday, where the British Health Secretary while announcing restrictions on travel from South Africa, suggested that the new variant appears to be more dangerous. Hanock said that it is “highly concerning” because the new South African strain is more transmissible than the one in the UK. 

Mkhize said that there is enough evidence to suggest that the UK variant developed earlier than the South African variant. Mkhize added that the UK government reported about the new variant to the WHO on December 14 and traced it back to September, a month before the South African variant appears to have developed. Mkhize said that the UK variant has already been identified outside the country, referring to a case in Denmark, adding that it is certain that the new strain is present in “majority” if not all the European nations.