South Africa detects new variant

More than 1.5 million people have died from Covid-19 in Europe since the coronavirus pandemic began, an AFP tally of official data showed Thursday as several countries reintroduce measures to try to stem the spread, report agencies.
As of 1000 GMT, the official death toll stood at 1,500,105 in a combined 52 countries since the first fatality was recorded in the region in February 2020, the data showed.
Globally the novel coronavirus has killed at least 5,196,413people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by Worldometers on Thursday.
At least 259,991,605 cases of coronavirus have been registered.
More than 7.82 billion doses have been administered across 184 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 34.6 million doses a day.
The figures are based on daily reports provided by each country's health authorities. They exclude revisions made by other statistical organisations, which show that the number of deaths is much higher.
Meanwhile report from Johannesburg adds: Scientists in South Africa said Thursday they had detected a new Covid-19 variant with multiple mutations, blaming it for a surge in infection numbers.
"Unfortunately we have detected a new variant which is a reason for concern in South Africa," virologist Tulio de Oliveira told a hastily-called news conference.
The variant, which goes by the scientific lineage number B.1.1.529, "has a very high number of mutations," he said.
"It's unfortunately causing a resurgence of infections," he said.