![VACCINE APARTHEID](https://magarticles.magzter.com/articles/762/641407/607fd0799f22f/VACCINE-APARTHEID.jpg)
ONE OF South Africa’s leading virologists and member of the country’s Network for Genomic Surveillance in South Africa (NGS-SA), Carolyn Williamson, still remembers the telephone call in November 2020. “A worried Tulio de Olivera, head of NGS-SA, called me to inform on his discovery of a new variant of the novel coronavirus causing COVID-19. He told me about this variant’s unexpected number of mutations in the spike protein that the virus uses to infect human cells,” he recalls. ngssa had identified the variant, later named 501y.V2, through analysis of 2,882 whole genomes from South Africa. Within a month of the variant's discovery in the Eastern Cape Province of the country, COVID-19 cases spiked. The new variant is up to 50 percent more transmissible, say experts. “By December, this virus variant had essentially replaced the previously circulating ones,” Williamson told Down To Earth (dte). The country formally declared this as the second wave of the pandemic in December 2020. After further investigations, experts estimated that the new wave caused by the variant actually started around October 2020. It was notably rapid in parts of the Eastern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZuluNatal Provinces.
By January 2021, the second wave turned widespread and deadly. According to the World Bank’s Africa Pulse report, released on March 31, 2021, “The number of confirmed cases in South Africa increased from 14,109 per million people on December 10, 2020 to a peak of 24,435 per million people on January 30, 2021. Meanwhile, fatalities grew from 384 per million people to 741 per million people over the same time period.” This was the highest among the 54 African countries.
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Esta historia es de la edición April 16, 2021 de Down To Earth.
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![Look Beyond Dust](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/LUcfRhjSO1717500619374/crp_LOOK-BEYOND-DUST.jpg)
Look Beyond Dust
Reinvent National Clean Air Programme to focus on fine particulate matter and trans-boundary pollution
![PLAN THEM COOL](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/7f5hMRg3Y1717501540417/PLAN-THEM-COOL.jpg)
PLAN THEM COOL
As urban India turns into a heat trap, the government must focus on improving cities' liveability
![Vision 2030](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/hxj09bnEp1717500184062/crp_VISION-2030.jpg)
Vision 2030
Economic growth must take into account needs of energy transition, climate mitigation, with action aligned as per India's 2030 climate goals
![FIX OUR FOOD](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/xMK2FG_n01717502345831/FIX-OUR-FOOD.jpg)
FIX OUR FOOD
Chemical-dependent farming, lax labelling laws, rising anti-microbial resistance must top the agenda
![BATTLE THE CAR BULGE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/1rF6Iqiqk1717502158050/BATTLE-THE-CAR-BULGE.jpg)
BATTLE THE CAR BULGE
Clean, affordable, integrated and accessible public transport the only solution
![CONSERVE NOW](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/fnXeqrw561717502067483/CONSERVE-NOW.jpg)
CONSERVE NOW
Disregard for biodiversity conservation over the past two decades needs immediate redressal
![SCRAP THE DUMP](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/agByyU0zV1717501748303/SCRAP-THE-DUMP.jpg)
SCRAP THE DUMP
Disincentivise garbage dumping, invest in behavioural change
![THINK LONG-TERM](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/GUd91olKI1717501199219/THINK-LONGTERM.jpg)
THINK LONG-TERM
India needs continued emphasis on flagship programmes, aligned to long-term planning that focusses on water security and circular economy in a climate-risked era
![OVERHAUL OVERDUE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/saIOJR5k01717500839449/OVERHAUL-OVERDUE.jpg)
OVERHAUL OVERDUE
Hold polluting industries accountable for public health risks, environmental hazards, climate change; provide them support for green transition
![IT'S NOW OR NEVER](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/762/1719707/u8HQXylCV1717500436337/ITS-NOW-OR-NEVER.jpg)
IT'S NOW OR NEVER
Clean energy sectors need demand-driven markets and domestic industries that can cater to the entire value chain