COVID-19 In South Africa: COVID-19 Cases Rises By 50% In 24 Hours

COVID-19 In South Africa: COVID-19 Cases Rises By 50% In 24 Hours

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COVID-18 cases in South Africa have increased by at least 50 per cent in 24 hours.

Health officials disclosed that the new infection was driven by the two new Omicron sub-variants.

They reported on Thursday a total of 9,757 new COVID-19 cases. This was a wide gap from 6,170 cases recorded on the previous day.

The numbers displayed that 25.9 per cent, or more than one in four people who took tests, tested positive. 

This is the highest positivity rate in recent months. The result comes as the winter season sets in.

The institute said seven fatalities were recorded in the past 48 hours.

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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organisation chief confirmed the cases. He said the two Omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5, were behind the rise in cases in South Africa. 

But he said it was “too soon to know whether these new sub-variants can cause more severe disease than other Omicron sub-variants.” 

Reactions

The South African government reacted by withdrawing its statement that schoolchildren were no longer required to wear masks.

The withdrawal came 16 hours after the health ministry ordered school children to wear masks.

In a new statement, the ministry said it was clearing “the confusion created by unfortunate and regrettable human error”. It said the earlier statement “about the removal of face mask-wearing by children at school” was released by the media.

It maintained that people, including children, were still expected to continue complying with COVID-19 guidelines. These includes:

• Wearing masks in public indoor spaces.
• limiting numbers attending large events.
• Indoor gatherings are limited to 1,000 people or half of the venue’s capacity.
• Outdoor events are capped at 2,000 people.
• Attendees are required to be vaccinated or provide a negative COVID-19 test. 
• Inbound travellers are still required to be fully vaccinated or show proof of a negative PCR test.

South Africa has officially recorded more than 3.8 million cases and 100,471 deaths. This is the highest toll across Africa. Still, less than 45 per cent of the adult population has been fully vaccinated. 

After a relative lull last month, numbers of new infections have been climbing steeply.

Source: PUNCH HealthWise