1 NEWS reported, according to a confirmation by the Ministry of Health, that a person arrived in New Zealand and was confirmed to have the C.1.2 Covid-19 variant.
The individual came from overseas and arrived in Auckland at the end of the month, and entered a quarantine facility posing no risks to spread in the community. The new variant was initially detected in May, spreading into most regions in South Africa, then to seven other countries in Asia, Oceania and Europe.
C.1.2 can spread much quicker and could possibly be higher than transmission rates of the Delta variant.
A study conducted by South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases says it is more mutatious than the initial virus that had been first detected in Wuhan. In addition, the new variant is more swaying than any other variants that have previously been seen.
Partial immune escape might be possible, leaving strain on the already Delta-struck globe struggling to fight back against the constantly changing virus.
South African scientists raised concern in a published study over the variant due to a significant number of mutations it can pose, such as increased transmissibility and resistance to antibodies to fight the virus. However, it is yet to be peer-reviewed.
Image: CC/ Ministry of Health [Government Newswire]
Vaccines will still be able to offer somewhat high levels of protection against influxes of hospitalisations and deaths based on an understanding of the mutations.
On Tuesday, 76,354 vaccines were administered according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health. Out of this large number, 53,032 were first doses and 23,322 were second doses.
To date in New Zealand there have been 3.4 million doses of the vaccine administered. Over 2.2 million are first doses and more than 1.18 million are second doses.
Image: Ministry of Health
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