Covid-19: South Africa passed the Omicron wave without a peak in deaths

South Africa, cradle of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, announced Thursday that it had passed the peak of the wave without a significant increase in the number of deaths. “All indicators suggest the country is likely past the peak of the fourth wave” pandemic, the presidency said in a statement, announcing the lifting of certain health restrictions and in particular the night curfew. “A marginal increase in the number of deaths has been observed in all provinces”, she continued.

New contaminations fell by nearly 30% last week (89,781), compared to the previous week (127,753). And hospital admissions have declined in almost all provinces (eight of nine). “Although the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, hospitalization rates have been lower than in previous waves”, stressed the presidency.

Omicron, which has a high number of mutations, was first identified in Botswana and South Africa in late November. It quickly became dominant in South Africa, causing the number of infections to rise exponentially to more than 26,000 daily cases in mid-December, according to official statistics. The variant is currently present in around 100 countries, according to the WHO. Extremely contagious, it also affects people who have been vaccinated as well as those who have already been infected with the virus.

African country officially the most affected, South Africa has more than 3.4 million cases and 91,000 deaths. Less than 13,000 cases have been detected in the past 24 hours. “The rate at which the fourth wave from Omicron rose, peaked and then declined, was astounding. A peak in four weeks and a precipitous decline in two weeks.”, posted on Twitter Fareed Abdullah of the South African Medical Research Council.

As many countries affected by Omicron announce tightening of health restrictions, the South African government has decided to lift the nighttime curfew so far in effect from midnight to 4 a.m. Establishments with a license for the sale of alcohol after 11 p.m. can resume normal operation. Wearing a mask remains compulsory in public spaces and gatherings are still limited: 1000 people maximum indoors, 2000 outdoors.

The demands for a lifting of the curfew had multiplied in recent days, in anticipation of New Year’s Eve, with a petition from the owners of restaurants and bars. “The risk of increased infections remains high given the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant”, however warned the presidency, calling for vaccination. In South Africa, 31% of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.