South Africa picks up first cases of COVID-19 variant from India

South Africa’s health ministry said on Saturday it had detected the first four cases of a new coronavirus variant that emerged in India and was responsible for a surge of infections and deaths in the Asian country.

Testing had also picked up 11 cases of the variant B.1.1.7 first detected in the UK, the health ministry said in a statement.

For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.

On Tuesday, two patients died after a fire broke out in the coronavirus ward of a hospital in northern South Africa, the local health department said.

The incident occurred at a hospital in Modimolle, 170 kilometers (106 miles) north of Johannesburg in rural Limpopo province.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Read more:

South Africa buys 20 mln doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

‘T cells’ that fight COVID-19 also respond to new virus variants: US study