Ómicron: South Africa surpassed the peak of the wave caused by the variant

South Africa, where the new variant of the COVID-19 last month, announced that it surpassed the peak of the wave Omicron, with only a “marginal” increase in deaths, while many countries experience record infections.

“According to our experts, Ómicron reached its peak without causing a significant or alarming change in the number of hospitalizations,” the minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele commented on Friday, assuring that the government would remain vigilant against any contrary evolution.

The night curfew, in force for exactly 21 months,. On the eve of the New Year’s celebrations, he finally got up.

“Our hope is that this uprising will continue,” indicated the minister in a virtual press conference.

“We are trying to find a , their livelihoods and the goal of saving lives ”, he indicated, recalling that the South African economy is still seriously affected by the pandemic.

Maintaining the use of the mask, distancing and speeding up vaccination – which remains below the targets, with only 15.6 million people fully vaccinated out of a population of 59 million – the minister hopes that “The curfew will never return.”

On Thursday night, the presidency announced that “All the indicators suggest that the country probably of the pandemic, with only a “marginal increase in the number of deaths”.

New infections, hospitalizations and deaths will continue to be “Followed hour by hour and if we observe a difference” in evolution, “We will act immediately”, the minister insisted on Friday.

Astonishing speed

New contaminations decreased almost 30% last week (89,781), compared to the previous week (127,753), while hospital admissions decreased in eight of the nine provinces.

“Although the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, the hospitalization rates, highlighted the presidency.

Ómicron, which has a high number of mutations and significant resistance to vaccines, was first identified in Botswana and South Africa at the end of November.

He quickly became dominant in South Africa, causing an exponential increase in the number of cases to more than 26,000 daily contaminations in mid-December, according to official statistics.

Extremely contagious, it affects both vaccinated people and those who have already been infected by the virus.

South Africa It is the most affected African country, with more than 3.4 million cases and 91,000 deaths. In the last 24 hours, fewer than 13,000 cases have been detected.

“The speed at which the fourth wave increased due to omicron, reached a peak and then declined, was astonishing. A peak in four weeks and ”, Tweeted Fared Abdulá of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).

While many omicron-affected countries announce a tightening of sanitary restrictions, and record cases of new infections per day, the South African government lifted the curfew and night establishments can resume normal operation.

However, the use of the mask is still mandatory in public spaces and concentrations are still limited to 1,000 people maximum indoors and 2,000 outdoors.

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