South African Covid-19 Infection Rate Sparks Fears of Fifth Wave

A sharp rise in Covid-19 infections have sparked fears of a fifth wave for the country. This comes after the government recorded over 3,000 new cases in a 24-hour period on Monday, April 25th, 2022, with a peak of more than 4,000 just four days previously.

According to Professor Adrian Puren the head of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), it is not clear yet whether the currently dominating Omicron variant BA2 is being replaced by a different subvariant.

The main opposition party's shadow minister for health, Michelle Clarke, said she would be asking parliament's Health Committee to analyse the rise in numbers when it meets.

"It's expected during this time to start seeing the resurgence because you're moving into the colder winter months. People are huddling more," she said. "So you would see a spread of Covid-19 happening because the environment changes. But if you look at the data that's been produced within the clusters like, for example, old-age homes, schools, et cetera, it's definitely not showing that resurgence in those clusters as yet."

As of April 25, 2022, SOuth Africa recorded 3,762,911 cases of Covid-19 of which 252,775 proved fatal and 3,633,297 resulted in recovery.