Sindh Health Minister Dr. Azra Pechuho, on Friday, said that samples of South African and Brazilian variants of COVID-19 have been detected in the country.
She said that 13 samples were examined at the Aga Khan University on Thursday, of which 10 were confirmed to have British variants, two were South African and one was Brazilian variant.
Dr Azra said that this was a matter of concern and could put a huge strain on the health system as the British strain of the virus spreads very quickly. It has a spread rate of 60% and a resulting mortality rate of around 68%, she added.
"The Brazilian and South African strains of the virus have a higher mortality rate and the effect of the vaccine on them is not significant, which means if one gets infected with the Brazilian or South African strains of the virus, they could fall very ill despite being vaccinated," she said.
It is pertinent to be stated here that Dr Azra has appealed to the public to refrain from attending house parties and advised against doing Eid shopping this year.
