Confusion Over Covid-19 Variant Testing in Namibia

The Namibian government says it has not yet established whether it will explore testing for the new variant of the novel coronavirus despite the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention saying the country has already started working with partners. Two new variants of Covid-19 have been discovered in South Africa and in the UK, with South Africa's variant, which is known as 501.V2, said to be more contagious than the one found in the UK. The discovery of the new variant was only made at the end of 2020 and as a result, the government is still looking into the possibility of testing for it, according to Namibia's Miinister of Health Kalumbi Shangula. The southern African country currently has over 24,545 cases and 208 Covid-19 deaths.