CDC Africa calls for more action on new strain of Covid-19, urges for non-restrictive travels

The head of Africa’s Centre for Disease Control on Thursday commented on the spread of new variants of the coronavirus in South Africa and the UK, urging that social distancing measures and testing would prevent the need for travel restrictions across the continent.

Dr John Nkengasong said that the new variant accounted for the “vast majority of the second wave” in South Africa, because of the speed in which it can pass from person to person.

Nkengasong said the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention was assessing whether vaccines being developed would still be effective.

Despite this, he said there was “absolutely no need” to restrict movement, because negative COVID-19 tests are required for travel.

“What we should focus on is really the measures that are in place to prevent transmission of COVID, not a specific variant,” he said.