Delta variant becoming dominant in SA’s Western Cape

Wastewater surveillance has shown that the delta variant, a highly transmissible coronavirus mutation first identified in India, has become dominant in some towns in South Africa’s Western Cape province.

The findings, announced in a South African Medical Research Council statement, highlighting the spread of the variant that’s driven a rapid rise in cases in Gauteng, South Africa’s most-populous province.

The delta variant was dominant in samples in 19 wastewater treatment plants in Cape Town as well as in the Breede River Valley and Theewaterskloof areas, the SAMRC said.