English By Anita Powell Share on Facebook Print this page JOHANNESBURG - South African health officials say the nation’s new COVID-19 wave is driven by a new variant of the coronavirus. But they say if there is one overarching message about the new variant, it is this: don’t panic.
In recent days, South Africa has seen a strong second wave, with the government documenting about 9,000 new cases a day. That leaves the nation, Africa’s epicenter for the virus, with nearly 350,000 confirmed cases since March, and nearly 25,000 deaths.
Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize said epidemiologists expect to see a further rise as many South Africans return to work in January from a monthlong summer holiday. However, he said there is no need for a change in strategy.
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South African health officials say the nation’s new COVID-19 wave is driven by a new variant of the coronavirus. But they say if there is one overarching message about the new variant, it is this: don’t panic.
In recent days, South Africa has seen a strong second wave, with the government documenting about 9,000 new cases a day. That leaves the nation, Africa’s epicenter for the virus, with nearly 350,000 confirmed cases since March, and nearly 25,000 deaths.
Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize said epidemiologists expect to see a further rise as many South Africans return to work in January from a monthlong summer holiday. However, he said there is no need for a change in strategy.
EC records 105 new COVID deaths while Gauteng has 1 more The total number of recoveries is 793,914. Picture: 123rf.
96 days ago
JOHANNESBURG – The total number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in South Africa has increased to 921,922, with 152 new deaths, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize announced in statement on Sunday.
The total number of recoveries is 793,914.
The Eastern Cape recorded 105 new coronavirus-related deaths, followed by the Western Cape with 30 and KwaZulu-Natal with 8. Gauteng only had one death.
The total number of deaths is now at 24,691.
On Friday, Mkhize, along with scientists, announced they ve identified a much more severe variant of COVID-19 here at home.
Closing down the world - Covid-19 2020. Photo by Edwin Hooper on Unsplash
South Africans recoiled in horror this week as it was reported that a new variant of Covid-19 has been identified which is more virulent and infection youngsters at a high rate.
According to Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize the new variant is called 501.V2.
“This genomics team, led by the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), has sequenced hundreds of samples from across the country since the beginning of the pandemic in March.
“They noticed that a particular variant has increasingly dominated the findings of the samples collected in the past two months,” Mkhize said.
South Africa: SA identifies COVID-19 variant 7thspace.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 7thspace.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.