COVID-19 fifth wave South Africa

Signs point to South Africa entering the fifth wave of Covid-19 and, without the presence of a new variant driving infections, attention has turned to ...

"So, the next seven days, until 6 May, will give a clearer picture as to where we are going. Phaahla said that he had not yet been alerted to a "definite new variant" but acknowledged that a subvariant of Omicron was being monitored closely. The Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) announced on Tuesday that " the fifth wave has arrived", citing a steady rise in new infections and test positivity rate.

Warning comes after the UN's health agency flags surging caseload as the main driver of rising cases throughout Africa.

Senior health official Nicholas Crisp also said on Friday that the country had enough vaccine doses and was not planning to procure more. The proportion of positive tests jumped from four percent in mid-April to 19 percent on Thursday, according to official figures. Today @HealthZAreports 4 deaths that occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. Authorities had predicted a fifth wave could begin in May or June, early in the southern hemisphere winter. #COVID19UPDATE: 22,710 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 4,146 new cases, representing an 18.3% positivity rate. On Thursday, the WHO’s Africa office flagged the current rise in South Africa’s infection rate as the main driver of a more widespread uptick in cases on the African continent.

A recent spike in Covid cases points to the possibility that South Africa is entering its fifth wave of cases earlier than expected, says health minister ...

Previous forecasts had pointed to a fifth Covid wave beginning in South Africa from mid-May. Data published on Thursday shows that these new Omicron sublineages, discovered by South African scientists earlier this month, account for about 70% of new coronavirus cases in South Africa and the strains appear to be more infectious than predecessors. A recent spike in Covid cases points to the possibility that South Africa is entering its fifth wave of cases earlier than expected, says health minister Joe Phaahla.

Speaking during a virtual media briefing on Friday morning, Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla said the Department of Health have noticed a rise in Covid-19 ...

Dr Richard Lessells of the Genomic Sequencing Network explained that the BA.4 and the BA.5 are not new variants, but rather diversification of the Omicron variant. Phaahla saidscientists have only confirmed the sub-variants of Omicron being the BA.4 and the BA.5, but not enough to be defined as variants of concern because the changes are not that significant. Speaking during a virtual media briefing on Friday morning, Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla said the Department of Health have noticed a rise in Covid-19 infections over the last two weeks, especially in Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

The COVID-19 cases are rising all around the world and South Africa, a country where the delta and Omicron variants of the virus caused a major issue, ...

The last few months have seen a resurgence of COVID-19 cases all around the world. Overall, around 3.7 million Covid cases have been reported in South Africa till now with the death toll crossing 100,000. There has been an increase in cases lately and officials fear that the African nation may be entering the fifth wave of the pandemic.