A recent spike in Covid cases points to the possibility that South Africa is entering its fifth wave of cases earlier than expected, says health minister Joe Phaahla.
In a media briefing on Friday , Phaahla said the government would likely need a further week of data to officially confirm the start of the fifth wave and that the recent uptick in cases is not anomalous. Previous forecasts had pointed to a fifth Covid wave beginning in South Africa from mid-May.
“What is also uncertain from our scientists is we have always been told that when a new wave comes it is driven by a new variant and at this stage, we have not been alerted of a definite new variance except changes in the Omicron variant.”on Thursday shows that these new Omicron sublineages, discovered by South African scientists earlier this month, account for about 70% of new coronavirus cases in South Africa and the strains appear to be more infectious than predecessors.
“What is clear is that we are at a great risk of Covid-19, especially as we go into a very long winter where people spend more time indoors and where our gatherings will largely be indoors with a risk of respiratory infection,” Phaahla said. Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla: We may be entering the 5th wave much earlier…possibly we have to wait for a few more days, maybe 7days so that we can be sure that this was not just a sporadic uptake but it is a sustained uptake
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