Omicron may soon outrun Delta cases in South Africa

The newly detected super mutant Omicron variant is most likely to outcompete Covid infections caused by Delta strain in South Africa claim the countrys health officialsOmicron was first detected in a sample taken on November 8 in Gauteng South Africas most populous province and was officially reported on November 24The omicron variant has so far been detected in five of South Africas nine provinces and accounted for 74 per cent of the virus genomes sequenced in November according to National Institute for Communicable Diseases NICD on WednesdayAccording to the NICD nearly threequarters of the 249 positive test samples that were checked genetically in South Africa in November were found to involve the Omicron variantOmicron dominates November sequencing data at 74 per cent of genomes n183249 Sequencing is ongoing to determine prevalence of Omicron in other provinces the NICD shared in a tweetNew cases are rising sharply in South Africa after having dropped to low levels in recent months From a weekly average of around 300 new cases per day to 1000 last week and most recently 3500 Wednesday saw 8651 new cases The share of tests that are coming back positive rose to 165 per cent from 102 per cent on Tuesday the institute saidAs of December 1 the cumulative number of Covid19 cases identified in South Africa are 2976613 with 8561 new cases reported South Africas health ministry wrote on TwitterThe rise in infections over the past two weeks is exponential The degree of increase is worrying Dr Michelle Groome of the NICD was quoted as saying by the GuardianMeanwhile the World Health Organisation said that at least 23 other countries have reported cases of Omicron and that it expects that number to growThe global health body said data on whether the mutations seen in the new variant made it more transmissible or better able to evade vaccine protection will be presented within days but so far there is no evidence to suggest that the vaccines dont work against OmicronMany questions remain about whether this variant causes more severe illness than others said WHO epidemiologist Maria van Kerkhove adding that officials in South Africa had seen reports of Omicron cases with symptoms that ranged from acemild disease all the way to severe disease To date they had seen no deaths associated with the variant the New York Times reportedThe Omicron variant seems to cause much more breakthrough infections than the previous ones Tulio de Oliveira director of the KwaZuluNatal Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform was quoted as sayingHe said that he was concerned about the threat of such infections among health workers which would sap the countrys ability to cope with a surge in casesWhile de Oliveira cautioned against comparing Omicron and Delta he said the super mutant new variant might swiftly supplant Delta in countries like South Africa where the older variant was fading but perhaps not as readily where Delta is still spreading actively he notedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever