Nzimande to spend R25m to research new Covid-19 variant
A funding budget of R25 million has been made available by Higher Education, Science and Innovation towards research on the new Covid-19 genome sequencing.
The new variant was first identified in KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape.
It's believed to be fuelling this second wave we're in.
READ: 216 Covid-19 deaths, 8 789 new infections in SA
The department says the funds will go towards the KZN Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform which will carry out the study - over the next 12 months.
Minister Blade Nzimande says they want to understand the spread of the virus in the country and continent.
"We started this in June 2020 with this project and already it is beginning to show some progress, and there is no reason why we should not continue as it underlines the importance of genomics in dealing with this pandemics - which also lays a very good basis for future challenges that we may have."
