Also Read | The faces behind the farmer revoltWhat is the new Covid-19 variant present in South Africa?It’s normal for viruses to mutate, and variants observed so far in the coronavirus sweeping the globe have made little difference to how it functions.
The South African variant, known as B.1.351, has worried scientists because of its unusually large number of mutations, especially in the spike protein, which the virus uses to attach to and infect human cells.How dangerous is this new variant?The discovery and spread of the South African variant has coincided with a powerful surge in infections in the country.