Nu-covid sends shares tumbling

The S&P/NZX 50 Index fell 165 points, or 1.3%, to 12,628.89. Turnover was $203 million.

Researchers in South Africa have discovered a variant of covid – expected to be called the Nu strain – that some are concerned may be both more infectious than the current strain and resistant to vaccines.

The newly found variant is reported to have five times as many mutations in its receptor-binding domain which could make it more transmissible.

It also has more than 30 new mutations to the spike protein, which existing vaccines have used to replicate to teach the immune system how to produce antibodies.