The total number of infections in South Africa is still relatively low. Yesterday 200 infections per million inhabitants were reported, in the Netherlands there were 1345 per million inhabitants yesterday. But due to the emergence of the new variant, the number of infections is rising rapidly.
–
–
In Gauteng province, where the omikron variant was discovered, the R number is above 2. This means that each infected person infects more than two people with the virus on average.
Mild Symptoms
South African Health Minister Joe Phaahla said he hopes the mild symptoms now seen with the omikron variant will continue. According to the minister, vaccination is the best protection against omikron. He calls on all South Africans to be fully vaccinated.
Vaccination coverage in South Africa is low: 37 percent of adults are fully vaccinated. In the Netherlands this is 85 percent.
It is still unclear how well the existing corona vaccines help against the omikron variant. According to the European health service ECDC, it is ‘very likely that antibodies from a previous infection or from vaccination will work less well’ against the new variant, but how much less is not known.
From signals about omikron are contradictory. According to Groome, more research is therefore needed into the transferability and harmfulness of the omikron variant.
–
–
Despite the rapid increase in the number of positive cases, hospital care in South Africa is not yet under pressure, according to Phaahla. He hopes that it will remain that way and that the death toll will not increase significantly in the coming period. Stricter measures are not necessary at the moment, according to the minister.
–
–
