Publications
- The Lambda variant has not been detected in South Africa yet.
- In Africa, it has only been detected in Egypt.
- There is no evidence that Lambda is the cause of the high death rate in Peru, researchers say.
The Lambda variant sweeping through South America has not yet been detected locally.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has confirmed that the variant has not been detected in South Africa.
"We continue to monitor the data and perform sequencing, and the public will be advised of any developments duly. During this time, it's imperative to not panic or spread misinformation and continue adhering to the same preventative methods," the NICD said.
READ | Covid-19 in South Africa: 15 500 new infections as hospitalisations reach nearly 15 000
A presentation to the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) by Professor Tulio de Oliveira and Dr Richard Lessells on Tuesday showed that while the Covid-19 variant had been detected in 31 countries so far, South Africa was not one of them.
In Africa, it has only been detected in Egypt.
Today we were requested to brief our government on the further spread of Delta in South Africa and the Lambda variant. The presentation is publically available in the NGS-SA website. https://t.co/HPljCtwASM
— Tulio de Oliveira (@Tuliodna) July 6, 2021
According to the presentation, the World Health Organisation (WHO) named Lambda a variant of interest on 14 June. It was first detected in Peru in December 2020.
According to the WHO, variants of interest are those "identified to cause significant community transmission or multiple Covid-19 clusters in multiple countries, with increasing relative prevalence alongside increasing number of cases over time, or other apparent epidemiological impacts to suggest an emerging risk to global public health".
Variants of concern, like Beta and Delta, increase in transmissibility and change in clinical disease presentation.
The two researchers said there was no evidence that Lambda was the cause of the high mortality rate in Peru.
Peru had experienced more deaths per capita than any other country since the start of the pandemic – even before the Lambda variant was detected. The country has a ratio of 586 deaths per 100 000 people as of 5 July.
"It is a figure that is almost 89% higher than Hungary, the second worst country by the same measure, with 310.5 deaths per 100 000."
They said research by Public Health England shows that currently there is "no evidence that this variant causes more severe disease or renders the vaccines currently deployed any less effective".
De Oliveira and Lessells' presentation to the NCCC also showed the variant the country should continue to worry about was the fast-spreading Delta variant. They said it was becoming the most dominant variant in the country.
NGS-SA worked hard to increase sequencing in South Africa. We know now that the explosive #COVID19 third wave is dominatedd by the Delta variant.In this tweet thread, we present recent data (sampled up to 24 June in many provinces in SA, including Gauteng) - Tweet 1/8 pic.twitter.com/BHUbSSSZpC
— Tulio de Oliveira (@Tuliodna) June 30, 2021
"Preliminary estimates from genomic data and epidemiological studies suggest Delta may be significantly more transmissible than other variants of concern, including Beta (30% to 60% more transmissible)."
The Delta variant was first detected in KwaZulu-Natal and was driving infections during the current third wave across the country.
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