The Africa Center for Disease Control, CDC, says Ghana is among countries on the continent where the new variant of COVID-19 is spreading.
The continental body said the new variant is “more transmissible than previously circulating variants, with high viral shedding.
In a statement it said a total of the three new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been identified across the world in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
It said, although it does not have a full appreciation of the extent of spread of the new variants in Africa, it confirmed the variant which was first discovered in South Africa, is currently spreading in 22 countries across the world including Ghana.
Other countries in Africa that have confirmed infections from the new South Africa variant are Botswana and Zambia. Scientists in South Africa have said earlier that the new variant is 50 percent more contagious than the previous strains.
The Africa CDC says it is currently working to map out the regional spread of all three variants as well as support local laboratories to address the emerging SARS-CoV-2 sequencing needs.
Meanwhile, the Africa CDC says it is linking the spread of the new variants of the virus to the second wave of COVID-19 infections which it says has been recorded in at least 40 countries including all countries in Southern Africa.