South Africa, officially the country most affected by Covid-19 on the continent and which had been experiencing a lull in recent months, has entered a new wave of the pandemic, the Centre for Epidemic Innovation and Response (CERI) warned on Tuesday.
"The 5th wave has arrived. Take care of yourselves ," warned the genomic research center led by virologist Tulio de Oliveira , who became famous for identifying the Beta and Omicron variants , on Twitter .
The number of new infections in the last 24 hours is still rising compared to the last few days, with 5,062 cases, 15 deaths and 83 hospitalizations, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
With a ratio of 6.3 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants and a positivity rate above 10% (16.9%), "based on previous waves, these are thresholds indicating a continued increase," added Ridhwaan Suliman , a researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), a government research institute, on Twitter.
The figures recorded in recent days are the highest in almost three months and a significant increase compared to just two weeks ago. Health Minister Joe Phaahla had already expressed his "concern" last week .
In early March, the country had experienced a 48-hour period without any Covid-19 related deaths , a first since 2020. President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced in early April the lifting of all legal restrictions related to the pandemic.
The latest wave of the disease resulted in greater transmission of the virus but fewer severe cases. South Africa , where less than 45% of the adult population is fully vaccinated out of a population of nearly 60 million, has recorded more than 3.7 million cases and some 100,350 deaths.
