Salim Abdool Karim was at a cricket match on December 26, Boxing Day, when he made the mistake of looking at his email. He had received a new report and the news wasn’t good. A heavily mutated coronavirus spotted in South Africa appeared to allow the virus to bind more tightly, and more easily, to human cells.
Karim, an epidemiologist and lead covid-19 adviser to the South African government, knew what the report meant. It could explain a drastic change in covid-19 in his country, where rising case numbers were turning every province red.
Image: Volunteer Thabisle Khlatshwayo is tested for the coronavirus before receiving a AstraZeneca's covid-19 vaccine in November at Soweto's Chris Sani Baragwanath Hospital outside Johannesburg, AP PHOTO/JEROME DELAY
