SA’s Health Department hits back at UK over travel ban

Britain recently introduced restrictions on travel from South Africa over the spread of another new variant of the coronavirus. 

On Wednesday, the UK’s Health Minister Matt Hancock made assertions that the 501.V2 variant originated in South Africa and that it was more transmissible.  

But Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has refuted these claims. 

“We have, however, noted the statement delivered yesterday by the Secretary for Health in the United Kingdom, Matt Hancock, and must register our concern that some of his utterances have created a perception that the variant in SA has been a major factor in the second wave in UK. This is not correct.  

“There is evidence that the UK variant developed earlier than the South African variant,” said Mkhize. 

ALSO  READ:

The travel ban comes after two cases of the "highly concerning" new virus strain had been discovered in Britain.   

“We are also concerned that there is rhetoric developing that the 501.V2 variant is more transmissible than the UK variant or may potentially cause more serious morbidity and mortality.  

“We have consulted with our genomics team who have assured us that, at present, there is no evidence that the 501.V2 is more transmissible than the United Kingdom variant - as suggested by British Health Secretary,” Mkhize explained.  

He added there is also no evidence that the 501.V2 variant causes more severe disease or increased mortality than the UK variant or any variant that has been sequenced around the world. 

Mkhize further accused the UK of jumping the gun on the imposed travel ban. 

“We, therefore, maintain that non-pharmaceutical interventions and strict containment measures remain most important to reduce the risk of transmission. Banning travel between UK and SA is an unfortunate decision.  

“Such a decision would require more scientific evidence than is currently available. There is no evidence that the SA variant is more pathogenic than the UK variant to necessitate this step.” 

Mkhize announced to the country last week that a new variant had been identified. 

Data collated by his department and researchers showed that the second wave of infections was being driven by the new variant.  

The source of the 501.V2 variant remains unclear but the government had allocated R25 million towards research on the new Covid-19 variant.