The new coronavirus variant Omicron is now dominating new infections in South Africa, the country’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) announced on Thursday.
“Nearly 75% of samples taken from people infected with the virus were positive for the new variant,” NICD clinical microbiology expert Anne von Gottberg said at a conference organized by WHO-Africa.
She added that “for the month of November, we had done 249 sequences, of which 183 were identified as Omicron,” cautioning that at this stage, it appears that prior infection does not offer protection against Omicron.
South Africa is currently facing a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections fueled by the new variant. As more than 8,500 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Wednesday, the NICD is predicting an exponential increase in infections due to Omicron.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had considered the new variant to be worrying because of its large number of mutations. In addition, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has sounded the alarm over the country’s low vaccination rates, with only 35.6% of eligible South Africans having received COVID-19 vaccines so far.
South Africa is the continent’s most affected country by the pandemic. To achieve herd immunity in this southern African country of nearly 60 million people, more than 40 million people must be fully vaccinated.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.