India Covid variant less mutant than SA's: Mkhize
Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has moved to allay fears about the coronavirus variant detected in India, saying it mutates less than the strain first identified in South Africa.
"There also found that it was still sensitive to people who were immunised with AstraZeneca, Pfizer ect. which is not the same as the one that we have in South Africa. The one that we have in South Africa has got more mutation problems than the one that is in India," he says.
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There are fears among South Africans after more than a dozen individuals that arrived in South Africa from India tested positive for COVID-19.
Fourteen of them are the crew of a bulk carrier that's under quarantine at the Port of Durban after it docked on Sunday.
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Two people who landed at King Shaka airport from India were also confirmed to have the virus.
Mkhize says he understands people are worried.
"We have actually been identifying people who come from India, we are testing a number of people and we have still not identified that variant that's in India.
"Even if that was identified - by just being very strict about the containment measure, we able to get over a very difficult wave with a much more problematic variant than the one that is seen in India."
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