Health experts say South Africa is experiencing a spike in new COVID-19 cases triggered by two sub-variants of omicron.
Professor Marta Nunes, a researcher in Analytical Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, said that for about three weeks, the country saw a rise in new cases and hospitalization rates, but not severe cases and deaths.
“We’re still very early in this spike period, so I wouldn’t call it a new wave yet,” Nunes said.
“We’re seeing a slight increase in hospitalization rates and very few deaths.”
New cases in South Africa jumped from an average of 300 per day in early April to around 8,000 per day this week. Nunes said the exact number of new cases may be much higher because symptoms are mild and many sick people are not tested. [vm/ft]
