By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Department of Health says it had been alerted to the presence of the new XBB.1.5 variant and was meeting with scientists to get more information on its transmissibility and severity.
It said that the XBB 1.5 variant is five times more virulent than the delta variant and has a higher mortality rate. It is also not easy to detect.
South Africans should start wearing face masks again due to the variant being “different” and “deadly”, the department advised.
Unlike other Covid variants, patients with XBB.1.5 don’t have a cough or fever.
The symptoms of the Covid XBB.1.5 variant can include:
- Joint pain,
- Headache,
- Neck pain,
- Upper back pain,
- Pneumonia,
- Lack of appetite.
The variant was discovered by Stellenbosch University’s Network for Genomics Surveillance on 27 December, Virologist Professor Tulio de Oliveira said.
There have been no increases in cases, hospitalisations or deaths in South Africa so far, he added.
Canadian biology professor Dr. Ryan Gregory had nicknamed XBB.1.5 the ‘kraken variant’ by . A kraken is a mythical giant tentacled sea monster from Scandinavian folklore.
XBB.1.5 is the most transmissible Omicron sub-variant detected so far, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) senior epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said.