New variant: Here’s how to track the spread of Covid-19 B.1.1.529

It’s a tense day in South Africa. The country is experiencing another spike in Covid-19 infections, coupled with the discovery of the new B.1.1.529 variant.

New B.1.1.529 variant

Covid-19 cases double in South Africa

On Wednesday, the National Institute For Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported 1,275 new Covid-19 infections and 114 deaths, while the recovery was at 96.3%.

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By Thursday, the rise in new infections nearly doubled, with 2,465 new reported cases. As per the NICD, the seven-day average is 3.4% which is higher than yesterday (2.7%)

Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said cases began spiking earlier this week, with a particularly exponential rise recorded in Gauteng.

The B.1.1.529 variant

Twenty-two cases of the new SARS-CoV-2 virus variant have been identified in South Africa, according to the NICD.

The variant is currently in four countries – South Africa recorded 22 cases, along with four in Botswana, two in Hong Kong, and one in Israel.

Use the map below – painstakingly created and updated by Google My Maps user Carlos Robles – to track the spread of the variant around the globe.

Tracking Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529

Meanwhile, South Africa’s National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) will meet on Sunday to discuss further interventions to curb the spread of the variant.

Subsequently, scientists from South Africa and government health officials will be meeting with the World Health Organization in this regard.

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Global Covid-19 stats

At the time of publishing, 260,494,777 Covid-19 cases were reported worldwide, with 5,202,916 deaths recorded and 235,458,218 recoveries.

The United States is the most severely affected country in the world with 798,551 deaths out of 48,999,737 cases, followed by India with 467,468 deaths out of 34,555,431 cases.

Brazil currently has a death toll of 613,697 from 22,055,608 reported cases, meanwhile, the UK is currently fourth on the list, followed by Russia, Turkey, France, Iran, Germany and Argentina.

South Africa is currently 18th on the global list.