RECENTLY published research has revealed that the new COVID-19 variant C.1.2 has been identified in South Africa. According to the researchers, there are concerns that this SARS-CoV-2 variant of interest (VOI) has been associated with increased transmissibility, neutralisation resistance, and disease severity.
“Here we report the identification of a potential variant of interest assigned to the Pango Lineage C.1.2,” the preprint analysis published last week read.
The Pango, which stands for Phylogenetic Assignment of Named Global Outbreak Linages, refers to the software tool for sequence assignment used by researchers to track the transmission and spread of COVID-19.
“This lineage was first identified in May 2021 and evolved from C.1, one of the lineages that dominated the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in South Africa and were last detected in January 2021.”
According to KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) Director at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Tulio de Oliveira,
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