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Scientists say they've identified a Covid-19 variant of concern with a high number of mutations. B.1.1.529 was first detected in Botswana on November 11th and then in South Africa the following day.

Dr Emma Hodcroft is a molecular epidemiologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland.

"The reasons scientists are concerned about it is that it has a very high number of mutations in the spike protein... and scientists are concerned that these mutations might mean changes in how the virus works."

"We've also seen that the number of these cases that have been detected in South African have risen over the last few days and has been alongside a general rise in cases."

"One thing I want to emphasise is that we don't yet know exactly how this virus might have changed and we don't know that it's definitely spreading more widely."

Photo shows: A computer generated image of Covid 19. Credit: Getty Images