C.1.2 COVID-19 variant | A look at what we know so far about the newly discovered mutation

On August 20, 2021, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in South Africa issued an alert about the ‘C.1.2 lineage’. (Image: News18 Creative)

C.1.2 COVID-19 variant was first detected in May in South Africa. Since then, the variant has been found in seven other countries. (Image: News18 Creative)

So far, the virus has not fulfilled the WHO criteria to qualify as a ‘variant of concern’ or ‘variant of interest’. (Image: News18 Creative)

It was detected far earlier than other COVID-19 variants. While previous strains were already widely circulating when scientists began to research them, the C.1.2 mutation began to be characterized when there were only 100 recorded cases. (Image: News18 Creative)

Many COVID-19 variants are very fragile and disappear before becoming a problem. The key mutants are the ones that survive the changes and outcompete the variants of the past. (Image: News18 Creative)

A ‘fitter’ variant is a variant that has gained some mutations which allow it to replicate faster and get into cells more efficiently. (Image: News18 Creative)