{"id":1309,"date":"2020-12-25T19:02:30","date_gmt":"2020-12-25T19:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/south-africa\/?p=1309"},"modified":"2020-12-25T17:55:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T17:55:41","slug":"mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible","title":{"rendered":"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is ‘more transmissible’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Cape Town – SA Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has slammed the comments made by the Secretary for Health in the United Kingdom, Matt Hancock, over the SA Covid-19 variant being \u201cmore transmissible\u201d.<\/p>\n

Both Britain and South Africa are currently facing a second wave in Covid-19 cases as new variants of the coronavirus have been discovered in both countries.<\/p>\n

Mkhize has lashed out at Hancock for his remarks during a media briefing in the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the impressive genomic capability of the South Africans, we’ve detected two cases of another new variant of coronavirus here in the UK,\u201d Hancock said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth are contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Britain is already trying to curb the spread of a mutated strain of the virus which is up to 70% more transmissible, and further studies are being carried out on the new variant.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new variant is highly concerning, because it is yet more transmissible, and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant has been discovered in the UK,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mkhize issued a statement on Christmas Eve stating that Hancock\u2019s comments about the SA variant being a major factor in the second wave in UK are \u201cnot correct\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is evidence that the UK variant developed earlier than the South African variant. To give some historical context, on 14 December, the UK reported to the WHO that a variant had been identified and traced back to 20 September 2020 in Kent, South East England- approximately a month before the South African variant appears to have developed,\u201d Mkhize said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis variant has a mutation occurring at a site common with the South African variant (the 501), although they are two completely independent lineages. The UK variant is thought to be driving the second wave that the UK are experiencing currently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mkhize added that the UK variant has already been identified outside of the UK as reported by Prof Neil Ferguson, a top British scientists who told the UK\u2019s science and technology committee on the 23 December 2020 that evidence from Denmark suggests that \u2018almost certainly\u2019 the new virus variant identified in the UK is already in the \u2018great majority if not all\u2019 European countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are also concerned that there is rhetoric developing that the 501.V2 variant is more transmissible than the the UK variant or may potentially cause more serious morbidity and mortality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has come in the wake of two samples collected from contacts of South African travellers testing positive for a SARS-COV-2 variant genetically identical to 501.V2.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have consulted with our genomics team who have assured us that, at present, there is no evidence that the 501.V2 is more transmissible than the United Kingdom variant- as suggested by British Health Secretary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is also no evidence that the 501.V2 causes more severe disease or in-creased mortality than the UK variant or any variant that has been sequenced around the world,\u201d Mkhize said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis, as well as other factors that influence transmissibility, is the subject of further investigation involving genomic investigators, epidemiologists, public health specialists, clinicians and other key stakeholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no evidence that the SA variant is more pathogenic than the UK variant\u2026 Future research will also shed light on the question of whether the 501.V2 variant becomes resistant to vaccines that have been developed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mkhize said that the South African government is focused on collaborating and cooperating with the WHO and all affected nations on containment measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 overall.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenomics surveillance is greatly assisting us to refine and improve our strategies as we learn more about the virus and its behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Additional reporting by Kate Holton, Michael Holden, and James Davey)<\/b><\/p>\n

IOL and Reuters<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Cape Town – SA Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has slammed the comments made by the Secretary for Health in the United Kingdom, Matt Hancock, over the SA Covid-19 variant being \u201cmore transmissible\u201d. Both Britain and South Africa are currently facing a second wave in Covid-19 cases as new variants of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":1308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-1309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nMkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is 'more transmissible' - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cape Town - SA Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has slammed the comments made by the Secretary for Health in the United K ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is 'more transmissible'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Cape Town - SA Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has slammed the comments made by the Secretary for Health in the United K ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-25T19:02:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"651\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"366\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is ‘more transmissible’\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-25T19:02:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible\"},\"wordCount\":638,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible\",\"name\":\"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is 'more transmissible' - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-25T19:02:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Cape Town - SA Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has slammed the comments made by the Secretary for Health in the United K ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg\",\"width\":651,\"height\":366,\"caption\":\"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is 'more transmissible'\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is ‘more transmissible’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is 'more transmissible' - South Africa","description":"Cape Town - SA Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has slammed the comments made by the Secretary for Health in the United K ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is 'more transmissible'","og_description":"Cape Town - SA Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has slammed the comments made by the Secretary for Health in the United K ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2020-12-25T19:02:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":651,"height":366,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is ‘more transmissible’","datePublished":"2020-12-25T19:02:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible"},"wordCount":638,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-South-Africa","South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","homepage-english","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible","name":"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is 'more transmissible' - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-25T19:02:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Cape Town - SA Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has slammed the comments made by the Secretary for Health in the United K ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2020\/12\/img-5fe6278657ef2.jpg","width":651,"height":366,"caption":"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is 'more transmissible'"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/mkhize-lashes-out-at-uk-minister-for-saying-sa-covid-19-variant-is-more-transmissible#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mkhize lashes out at UK minister for saying SA Covid-19 variant is ‘more transmissible’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}