South Africa has exceeded Omicron. The country where the new variant began, which has put the whole world in check for its high transmissibility, has announced that it has surpassed the peak of the wave and there are two important data to highlight: the number of deaths has remained constant with a rate of very poor vaccination (As of December 28, 26.50% of the population with the complete guideline).
The truth is that the graphics are clear. As you can see in the following image the explosion of Omicron at african country In November it has left an impressive wave of infections that reached its highest peak on December 15, when it registered 26,389 cases. Since that day, the new cases have been declining and that is why this wave of the pandemic is already controlled.
In other waves, the usual thing was that in the face of a rebound in cases, a rebound in deaths was also recorded, but with Ómicron this has not happened. The following graph shows how the number of deceased due to coronavirus has remained practically stable since the explosion of the new variant.
South Africa was experiencing a drop in the death toll from early October that continued until Omicron. Then it started to stabilize and there has been a small rebound since the highest peak of infections. Still nothing proportional to the number of new cases.
If South Africa has managed to overcome the peak of the pandemic we can draw the conclusion that this new variant is much less deadly than the others. Its contagion is much higher, but its symptoms are much milder, which has caused the number of deaths not to grow in proportion.
Furthermore, South Africa is a country with a vaccination rate very scarce. As of December 28, the date for which the latest data are available, only 26.50% of the population is vaccinated with the full schedule.
The country’s presidency has issued a statement to convey to the population that “all indicators suggest that the country has exceeded the peak of the fourth wave». He also notes that “the Omicron variant is highly transmissible” but that “hospitalization rates have been lower than in previous waves.”
A fact that only confirms what the first studies in South Africa and the United Kingdom already pointed out: that Ómicron is much more contagious but that causes a lower risk of hospitalization.
While many countries multiply their restrictions on this variant, the South African Government decided to lift the curfew valid between midnight and 04:00 in the morning, a demand from the leisure sector before New Year’s Eve.
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