SA Covid-19 variant now dominant in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe government says the variant of Covid-19 discovered in South Africa is now the dominant one in the country.

The Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa briefed the media saying:

Cabinet informs the nation that results of the genomic sequencing recently conducted indicate that the type of COVID-19 virus that the nation had in 2020 has receded. There is a 61% dominance of the new South African variant which spreads faster and has a higher fatality rate.

It must be noted that external scientific evidence has not shown the SA variant to be deadlier than the original one.

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Mutsvangwa furthe said:

Accordingly, the nation now needs to be more vigilant than before and adhere to COVID-19 prevention and control measures. Security personnel have therefore been directed to intensify monitoring and enforcement in order to enhance compliance

Zimbabwe is currently under an adjusted Covid-19 level four lockdown with stay-at-home orders and curfews. It expires on 1 March 2021.