South Africa: Covid-19 Cases Shoot Up at an “Alarming Rate”

The Pandemic is Not Over in South Africa

South Africa has announced that coronavirus is spreading at an "alarming rate" — with more than 14,000 new cases confirmed in the past day, including over 400 deaths. Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize said on Wednesday that it was the largest single-day increase in cases, The country sees a 40% increase in infections and is now at more than 950,000 Covid-19 cases — approaching the 1 million mark.

Dr Richard Lessells, a specialist in infectious disease, shares his insight, "I think it's very concerning because there's no sign at the moment that we're reaching a peak. There's still rapid exponential growth."

The new variant in South Africa is now the most predominant as confirmed infections in the country. A strain which transmits quickly with higher viral loads that experts have yet to determine whether or not it leads to a more severe disease.

Dr Lessells continues, “But we do think that this particular variant of the virus may be more efficient at spreading from person to person. So what that means is it makes it even harder for us to control it. We need be, we need to double down our efforts to control this virus.”

The African continent now has more than 2.5 million confirmed cases, or 3.3% of global cases with infections across the continent having risen by10.9% over the past four weeks.