The South African government believes the worst spike in omikron infections and withdrawals is over. A statement said numbers have plummeted across the country in the past week. In the week before Christmas, there were just under 90,000 registered infections, compared to more than 127,000 the week before. A corona scientist in the country calls the drop dizzying.
With that finding, the government lifted a number of restrictions, such as the curfew between midnight and 4 a.m. The sale of alcohol is also no longer subject to restrictions. Face masks are still mandatory in public areas.
The wave of omikron infection in the country has resulted in less pressure on healthcare than in Delta, for example. According to the government, the increase in the number of corona deaths was marginal. Also, despite the easier spread of the variant, there were also fewer hospital admissions.
However, there is also a warning not to draw conclusions too quickly from the hopeful messages. The reduction could also be due to the reduced willingness to test around Christmas. In addition, comparisons with other countries may be flawed because many South Africans would have developed natural immunity due to the low vaccination coverage in previous waves.
The omikron variant of the coronavirus was first recognized in South Africa in November. Many countries introduced new corona measures for fear of omikron. The Netherlands went the furthest in Europe, with the lockdown that has now been in force for almost two weeks.
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