South Africa readies hospitals as COVID cases of new variant surge

Amidst the rising cases of the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa said that the hospitals are preparing for potential hospitalization. Daily infections in South Africa surged with the new variant and led the country to enter the fourth wave.

Addressing the nation on Monday, Ramaphosa said “As the country heads into the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, we are experiencing a rate of infections that we have not seen since the pandemic started.”

Omicron was detected in November in South Africa, and since then it has triggered a global health outburst, with countries banning travel to the country. With the new cases on a rise to more than 16000 on Friday from 2300 cases on Monday.

Ramaphosa also told the weekly newsletter that the variant Omicron seems to be dominating the new cases in the nine provinces of the country. He stated that South Africa has a sufficient supply of vaccines and urged people to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Highlighting the importance of vaccination, he mentioned that getting vaccinated against Covid-19 is essential for the country’s financial recovery considering more vaccinated people will open up more opportunities economically.

He further added that the government would soon summon the council of the National Coronavirus Command to analyze the ongoing situation of the pandemic to identify what measures need to be taken to maintain the safety of the people of South Africa. 

The Scientists of South Africa along with other countries are driving towards finding whether Omicron is more contagious than the other variants, causes more serious infections, and if it is resistant to the existing vaccines available.