Corona live: South Africa mutation even more dangerous, according to the British minister

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The British government warns of a great risk from the coronavirus variant that has appeared in South Africa.

This mutation is a "very significant problem" and an even bigger problem than the highly infectious British variant, said Health Secretary Matt Hancock on BBC Radio 4. He had spoken to his South African counterpart and was now "incredibly concerned".

Therefore, Britain has taken the measures to restrict flights from South Africa.

The South African mutation, which developed independently of the British variant, is held responsible for the rapid increase in the number of infections in the African country.

According to the authorities, more than one million of the approximately 59 million inhabitants of South Africa have been infected with the corona virus since the beginning of the pandemic.

This makes it the country in Africa hardest hit by the crisis.

In Great Britain, too, a new mutation of the coronavirus has been causing a sharp rise in the number of infections since December.

Despite tough lockdown measures, UK authorities reported 54,990 new infections within 24 hours and 454 more deaths related to the virus on Sunday.

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