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South Africa’s coronavirus variant fuels spike in cases, stretches hospitals
- A record number of 14,305 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours, with the country’s outbreak showing no signs of slowing down
- Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said there is no evidence that the South African variant, 501. V2, is more infectious than the UK strain
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South Africa’s normally joyful and lively Christmas celebrations have been dampened by the spike in new cases and deaths driven by the country’s variant of Covid-19.
A record number of 14,305 new cases have been confirmed in the past 24 hours, and with no sign of South Africa reaching a peak, threatening the country’s health systems, experts said.
South Africa has a cumulative total of 968,563 confirmed cases, including 25,983 deaths, by far the most infections in all of Africa. Africa’s 54 countries, representing 1.3 billion people, have together reported more than 2.59 million cases, including over 61,000 deaths, according to figures released on Friday by the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
South Africa’s 7-day rolling average of daily new cases has more than doubled in the past two weeks from 8.65 new cases per 100,000 people on December 10 to 18.25 new infections per 100,000 people on December 24.
The South African variant, 501. V2, is more infectious than the original Covid-19 virus and is dominant in the country.
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