Johannesburg: South Africa According to health experts, the two Omicron is experiencing a surge in new COVID-19 cases driven by sub-variants.
For nearly three weeks, the country has seen a number of new cases and somewhat more hospitalizations, but there has been no increase in serious cases and deaths, the professor said. Marta Nunesa researcher on Vaccine and infectious disease analysis Chris Hani at Bargawanath Hospital in Soweto.
“We’re still very early in this growth period, so I don’t really want to call it a wave,” Nunes said. “We’re seeing a modest increase in hospitalizations and very few deaths actually.”
South Africa’s new cases have risen from an average of 300 per day in early April to nearly 8,000 per day this week. Nunes says the actual number of new cases is probably much higher because symptoms are mild and many people who become ill are not getting tested.
South Africa’s new surge comes from two forms of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, which appear to be very similar to the original strain of Omicron that was first identified in South Africa and Botswana late last year, and was swept across the world.
“Most of the new cases are from these two strains. They’re still omicrons … but just something genomically different,” Nunes said. The newer versions appear to be able to infect people who already have immunity. covid Infections and vaccinations but they usually cause mild disease, she said. In South Africa, 45 percent of adults are fully vaccinated, although about 85 percent of the population has some immunity based on previous exposure to the virus.
“It seems that vaccines still protect against serious disease,” Nunes said.
Nunes said Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 strains have spread to other countries in southern Africa and some European countries, but it is too early to say whether they will spread around the world, as Omicron did.
Covid cases are on the rise as South Africa enters the Southern Hemisphere’s colder winter months and the country is seeing an increase in flu cases.
in a covid testing center in chiavello In the area of Soweto, many people come to test for COVID, but find out they have the flu.
“We’re in flu season now… so it’s flu vs COVID-19,” said Magdalene Matsuso, site manager at the Chiavello Vaccination Center. She said that people come for tests because they have symptoms of Kovid.
“When we do tests, you find that most of them, when it comes to COVID, are negative, but they have flu symptoms,” Matsoso said.
“So they get flu treatment and then they go home because most are related to flu and not covid.”
Vuyo Lumkwani was one of the people who came for the test.
“When I woke up this morning, I was not feeling well. I was feeling body ache, headache, blocked (nose), dizzy, so I decided to come here,” she said.
“I was scared about my symptoms because I thought it might be COVID-19, but I told myself I would be fine as I was vaccinated,” Lumkwani said. She said that she got relief from the flu and advised to go home and rest with some medicine.
For nearly three weeks, the country has seen a number of new cases and somewhat more hospitalizations, but there has been no increase in serious cases and deaths, the professor said. Marta Nunesa researcher on Vaccine and infectious disease analysis Chris Hani at Bargawanath Hospital in Soweto.
“We’re still very early in this growth period, so I don’t really want to call it a wave,” Nunes said. “We’re seeing a modest increase in hospitalizations and very few deaths actually.”
South Africa’s new cases have risen from an average of 300 per day in early April to nearly 8,000 per day this week. Nunes says the actual number of new cases is probably much higher because symptoms are mild and many people who become ill are not getting tested.
South Africa’s new surge comes from two forms of Omicron, BA.4 and BA.5, which appear to be very similar to the original strain of Omicron that was first identified in South Africa and Botswana late last year, and was swept across the world.
“Most of the new cases are from these two strains. They’re still omicrons … but just something genomically different,” Nunes said. The newer versions appear to be able to infect people who already have immunity. covid Infections and vaccinations but they usually cause mild disease, she said. In South Africa, 45 percent of adults are fully vaccinated, although about 85 percent of the population has some immunity based on previous exposure to the virus.
“It seems that vaccines still protect against serious disease,” Nunes said.
Nunes said Omicron’s BA.4 and BA.5 strains have spread to other countries in southern Africa and some European countries, but it is too early to say whether they will spread around the world, as Omicron did.
Covid cases are on the rise as South Africa enters the Southern Hemisphere’s colder winter months and the country is seeing an increase in flu cases.
in a covid testing center in chiavello In the area of Soweto, many people come to test for COVID, but find out they have the flu.
“We’re in flu season now… so it’s flu vs COVID-19,” said Magdalene Matsuso, site manager at the Chiavello Vaccination Center. She said that people come for tests because they have symptoms of Kovid.
“When we do tests, you find that most of them, when it comes to COVID, are negative, but they have flu symptoms,” Matsoso said.
“So they get flu treatment and then they go home because most are related to flu and not covid.”
Vuyo Lumkwani was one of the people who came for the test.
“When I woke up this morning, I was not feeling well. I was feeling body ache, headache, blocked (nose), dizzy, so I decided to come here,” she said.
“I was scared about my symptoms because I thought it might be COVID-19, but I told myself I would be fine as I was vaccinated,” Lumkwani said. She said that she got relief from the flu and advised to go home and rest with some medicine.