South Africa is among the countries that have taken control of the coronavirus recently. In early November, the country recorded the lowest infection pressure since the beginning of the epidemic.

But at the end of the month, the situation was turned upside down, when the new mutation omicron was discovered.

Since then, infection rates have skyrocketed, and experts believe there is a high probability that many of the infections are linked to the new variant, he writes. Sky News.

– It can be hard to stop

400 percent increase in acceptance

Until recently, South Africa had recorded about 300 daily cases – a number that reached 3,220 on Sunday, according to the The Wall Street Journal.

The infection situation also accelerated hospitalizations. In the past four weeks, national admission numbers have increased by 63 percent. In Gauteng alone, the country’s most populous province, admissions increased nearly 400 percent in the past month — from the first 120 in the week of November to 580 last week, he writes. NBC.

Public health specialist Wasilah Jasat says the huge increase in Gauteng province occurred in a short time, but stresses that the numbers of patients in hospitals are at the same level as they were during previous waves of infection.

There is still a lot unfamiliar with the new variant, including how contagious and dangerous it is. Despite the fact that South Africa has recorded a sharp increase in both infection cases and the number of admissions recently, it has not been confirmed whether this is due to the emergence of the new mutant.

global danger

The World Health Organization describes the new corona variant omicron as a worrying variant that could occur It poses a very big global threat. Researchers are concerned that the mutated virus will spread faster and that vaccines are not effective.

“Omikron has a number of unparalleled sudden mutations, some of which are very worrying given their potential impact on the evolution of the epidemic,” the WHO wrote.

Experts disagree on the measures

In recent days, microne has also been detected in Europe, including the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and Sweden. The variant has not been proven in Norway yet, but the NIPH does not rule out that a variant may already exist in the country without it being proven.

On Tuesday at 12 noon the government will hold a press conference on the Corona situation, where it has been announced that it will introduce new measures to keep Omicron at bay.