World News for Students of English

01-12-2021 07:00

In South Africa, scientists detected a new coronavirus variant.

The news worried scientists and world leaders because the variant was very different from the original virus. The new variant had many changes in its protein, and scientists did not know yet if the vaccines work against it. Some countries already stopped travel from South Africa and five other African countries.

Four countries already reported cases of the new variant. They were Israel, Botswana, Hong Kong, and Belgium. The President of the EU Commission said that European leaders had to do something very quickly. She said that it was important to stop travel to some African countries, because it could stop the movement of the new variant.

Difficult words: detect (to discover something), variant (a new type of virus), protein (a substance which is present in all living things, and it helps the chemical processes in them).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.