South Africa has passed the peak of the wave of Omicron variant contaminations, without a major increase in deaths.
South Africa, where the new variant of Covid-19 was detected last month, has announced that it has passed the peak of the Omicron wave, with only a “marginal” increase in deaths, as many countries experience infections record.
“According to our experts, Omicron has reached its peak without translating into a significant or alarming change in the number of hospitalizations”, commented on Friday the Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele, assuring that the government would remain vigilant to the least development to the contrary.
The nighttime curfew, in place for almost two years, 21 months to be precise, had been reduced to the hours between midnight and 4 a.m. On the eve of the New Year’s celebrations, he is finally up.
“Our hope is that this lifting will continue,” said the minister during a virtual press briefing. “We seek to find a balance between people’s lives, their livelihoods, and the goal of saving lives,” he said, recalling that the South African economy remained heavily affected by the pandemic.
By maintaining the wearing of the mask, the distancing, and by accelerating the vaccination which remains below the objectives, with only 15.6 million people fully vaccinated for a population of 59 million, the minister hopes that “the curfew does not will never come back “.
A high number of mutations
Thursday evening, the presidency announced that “all indicators suggest that the country has probably passed the peak of the fourth wave” of the pandemic and that a “marginal increase in the number of deaths has been observed”.
The number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths will continue to be “followed hour by hour and if we observe a difference” in the evolution, “we will act in function immediately”, insisted Friday the minister.
New infections fell by nearly 30% last week (89,781), compared to the previous week (127,753). And hospital admissions have declined in eight out of nine provinces: “Although the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, hospitalization rates have been lower than in previous waves,” the presidency said.
Omicron, which has a high number of mutations raising concerns about vaccine resistance, 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.
91,000 deaths in South Africa
The variant is currently present in around 100 countries, according to the WHO. Extremely contagious, it affects people who have been vaccinated as well as those who have already been infected with the virus.
The 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, then peaked and then declined, was astounding. A peak in four weeks and a precipitous decline in two weeks,” tweeted Fareed Abdullah of the South African Council of the medical research (SAMRC).
While many countries affected by Omicron announce a strengthening of health restrictions, and record cases of new contamination per day, the South African government has lifted the curfew and night establishments can thus 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 in particular a petition from the owners of restaurants and bars.
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