South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday invited scientists from fellow BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – to work alongside scientists from his country in further researching the various characteristics of the COVID-19 virus and its mutations.

"Humanity will only overcome this pandemic if the countries of the world work in closer cooperation by sharing information, expertise and resources. This cooperation must be underpinned by the principles of solidarity, partnership and mutual respect," said Ramaphosa.

"The collaboration among BRICS countries is intended to broaden our knowledge of the COVID-19 virus not only for the benefit of member countries but for the global community more broadly," he added.

Ramaphosa's call for collaboration comes following the detection of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, first reported by South Africa on 24 November.

Following that notification, the Southern African region became the recipient of travel bans from many countries.

The strain has since spread to nearly 60 countries globally.

According to the presidency, Ramaphosa has appointed the Chairperson of the Ministerial Advisory Council on COVID-19, Dr. Koleka Mlisana, to lead a task team of South African researchers in the area of genomic sequencing to work with their counterparts from other BRICS countries.

Scientists from the BRICS countries will be supported by officials from the Departments of Health and Higher Education, Science and Innovation.

South Africa is currently the host of the BRICS Vaccine Research Centre and the research on the Omicron variant will form part of the centre's initiatives.