New Zealand's first new community case of Covid-19 since November has been confirmed as the highly-transmissible South African variant. Besides the South African variant, others have been identified in Britain and Brazil. What is the South African variant? University of Otago virologist Jemma Geoghegan said research suggested the South African variant could be up to 50 percent more transmissible. More studies are needed though, because N501Y is not the only change the South African variant has undergone.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 26, 2021 00:11 UTC