According to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, omicron is driving the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections globally, with daily infection rates increasing fivefold over the previous week.
He described the situation as "concerning," noting that omicron is now the predominant pathogen causing new infections in the majority of provinces, and almost a quarter of all Covid samples have now tested positive, up from nearly a quarter two weeks ago.
"As the country enters a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections, we are seeing infection rates unprecedented since the pandemic began," Mr. Ramaphosa wrote in his weekly message.
Mr. Ramaphosa stated that authorities have been "preparing hospitals to admit more patients" and attempting to get drugs for coronavirus therapy while scientists investigate the new variant's impact.
"As we enter the fourth wave and the country prepares for the holiday season, the urgent objective is to increase vaccination rates. Scientific research demonstrates that vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the spread of new illnesses and that vaccines significantly reduce severe illness, hospitalization, and mortality," he noted.
The country has seen a dramatic increase in infections since it identified a new strain of the virus with over 32 mutations in its spike protein. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported that South Africa added 11,125 new daily illnesses in the last 24 hours. This brings the overall number of cases reported in the country to 303,1694.
It reported a spike in daily infections to 16,000 on Friday, up from approximately 2,300 on Monday.
The president emphasized the importance of vaccines, saying, "South Africa now has sufficient supplies of vaccines, ... vaccination is essential for our economic recovery because as more people are vaccinated more areas of economic activity will be opened up."
Mr. Ramaphosa stated that they keep a "close eye" on infection and hospitalization rates.
The president announced that he will convene a National Coronavirus Command Council meeting to assess the pandemic's current situation, adding that "this will enable us to take any additional measures necessary to keep people safe and healthy."
Sihle Zikalala, the premier of South Africa's coastal province KwaZulu-Natal, announced that the region is officially in the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with infection rates nearly doubling in the last two weeks.
"Two weeks ago, the province had a test positivity rate of 0.7 percent, but that percentage has grown to 12.7 percent as of today (Sunday). From 26 November, the province began receiving more than 100 positive cases each day," he said.
These findings "suggest that the fourth wave has begun. Hospitalizations have also increased, including those requiring intensive care and ventilation. We can affirm that the great majority of patients requiring intensive care and ventilation are unvaccinated," Mr. Zikalala said.
