The omicron variant is spreading rapidly in South Africa. The new Corona variant is already dominating there. Authorities are concerned.
Pretoria – The new Coronavirus variant Omikron * is behind a “worrying” increase in Corona cases in South Africa. It is fueling an “exponential increase,” says the South African Institute for Infectious Diseases (NICD).
In the past two weeks, the corona cases have risen from initially 300 daily new infections on a weekly average to 1,000 in the past week and most recently to 3,500, said NICD representative Michelle Groome on Wednesday.
On Wednesday evening, the NICD reported that 8,561 new corona cases had been reported nationwide within 24 hours. In Gauteng, the most populous and hardest hit province in South Africa, to which the metropolis of Johannesburg also belongs, the proportion of positive tests rose to 27 percent on Wednesday. 4,400 new infections were registered on Tuesday.
South Africa: Omicron variant is increasingly spreading among the elderly
The omicron variant, which was initially found particularly in young people *, is now increasingly spreading among older people. The rapid spread in other countries has put governments around the world on high alert. Many countries have imposed an entry ban on passengers from countries in southern Africa because of Omikron.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called these entry bans on Wednesday as unjust and ineffective. “With a truly borderless virus, travel restrictions that isolate a country or region are not only deeply unjust and punitive, but also ineffective,” he told journalists. He called it a “scandal” that the continent of Africa was being condemned for its lower vaccination rate.
It is “unfair” and “immoral” that South Africa is now being punished for having made the discovery of the new Omicron variant public. Countries should “not be collectively punished for identifying and sharing critical scientific and health information with the world”.
The head of the African Union (AU) commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, also condemned the “stigmatization” of the African continent. “Less than six percent of Africans are vaccinated,” he emphasized and called for international solidarity to make further vaccinations possible for the countries. Entry bans are not the right way to react to the discovery of the new virus variant.
“I call on all governments to consider repeated testing for travelers and other appropriate and really effective measures instead,” Guterres said. “This is the only way to reduce the risk of transmission while allowing travel and economic engagement,” he added.
Omikron concern also in Germany
Germany is currently trying to get the fourth corona wave under control *. A new, probably still contagious, Corona variant is still missing. Experts and politicians are concerned.
Much is still unclear about the new Omikron variant. Especially how the countless mutations on the spike protein actually behave. While Moderna boss Stephane Bancel openly expressed doubts about the effectiveness * of the available mRNA vaccines, Biontech boss Ugur Sahin is optimistic. Sahin expects that the available Covid-19 vaccine can also protect against serious disease progression with the new Omikron variant.
There is positive news from Israel about vaccination protection. Karl Lauterbach, otherwise known for gloomy prognoses, tweeted: “In Israel there are indications that BionTech also has 90% effectiveness against Omicron.” The SPD health expert wants to get data from his colleagues. (afp / ml) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
