Kaya 959 Reporter
Scientists working with the government have predicted that a fourth wave of coronavirus infections could begin in December.
They have also indicated that this time around, it is likely to be less severe than previous resurgences, because about a third of South African adults are fully vaccinated and between 60% and 70% of the population may have already been infected.
On Nov. 20, the number of confirmed cases over a 24-hour period rose to 887, the highest since Oct. 14, and on Nov. 21, 3.4% of tests returned a positive result.
“The concern that the Delta + variant might be problematic, essentially the eveidence they found is that it is only 10% more transmissible than the Delta variant we are familiar with.”
“In South Africa we are more worried about a variant that is more similar to the Beta variant, which is likely to escape immunity and vaccines won’t work as well. With Delta variant, we do have protection with the vaccines.”
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported a “sustained” increase over the past seven days, with the majority of cases detected in the most populous province of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria.
#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 13,473 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 312 new cases, which represents a 2.3% positivity rate. A further 10 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,584 to date. See more here: https://t.co/JgE7ov49CX pic.twitter.com/HKLml23LgZ
— NICD (@nicd_sa) November 22, 2021


