B1351

The 501Y.V2 variant, also known as 20H/501Y.V2, B.1.351 lineage and colloquially known as South African COVID-19 variant, is a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. One of several SARS-CoV-2 variants believed to be of particular importance, it was first detected in the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa in October 2020, which was reported by the country's health department on 18 December 2020. Phylogeographic analysis suggests this variant emerged in the Nelson Mandela Bay already in July or August 2020.

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