Discovery of COVID variant in South Africa rocks DP World Tour

The tour formally known as the European Tour was scheduled to kick off its 2021-22 season with three consecutive events in South Africa. The first round of the DP World Tour’s first event at the Joburg Open was hampered by inclement weather and eventually postponed by lightning.

Friday brought worse news.

Experts with the World Health Organization are meeting to assess a COVID-19 variant in South Africa that has been rapidly spreading among young people and has already spawned numerous mutations, according to a story by USA TODAY.

Several nations, including Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and Japan, have responded to news of the variant by moving Friday to restrict air travel from several southern African countries. The European Union, which is made up of 27 nations, is also recommending a ban on flights from southern African countries, despite WHO officials warning against rash decisions.

The Washington Post reports that global financial markets are already reacting, with the Dow Jones industrial average sinking more than 800 points after news of the discovery of a coronavirus variant in South Africa.

The DP World Tour released a statement indicating South Africa has been placed on the travel red list but still plans to forge ahead and complete the Joburg Open as planned on Sunday.

The two events after that have already been dropped from the DP World Tour’s official website. The South African Open Championship, Dec. 2-5, which was co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour, will now just be a Sunshine Tour event. The Alfred Dunhill Championship, which was scheduled for Dec. 9-13, has been canceled altogether, due to, according to the DP World Tour, the adverse effect the travel restrictions will have on the field.

Also in the USA TODAY report: scientists have little information about the variant and its potential for danger right now, said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 technical lead, on Thursday.

“What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations, and the concern is that when you have so many mutations it can have an impact on how the virus behaves,” said Van Kerkhove.