As we leave 2022 and enter into 2023, the National Health Department has warned that while Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted, the pandemic is far from over.
Just this week, CNBC reported that the US government was considering imposing new Covid-19 rules for travellers from China after mounting concerns over Covid surges in China.
DoH spokesperson Foster Mohale said although restrictions have been removed, we must not let our guard down by not vaccinating as deaths were still prevalent.
“We urge all unvaccinated and partly vaccinated people to continue to enhance their immunity against the pandemic through vaccine, simply because the virus is still amongst us, claiming lives on a weekly basis.
“One death is too many, hence we introduced additional boosters shots to enable fully vaccinated people to protect themselves and their loved ones.
“The lifting of restrictions doesn't mean the pandemic is over, hence other countries continue to experience a surge in cases.
“Hospitalisation cases due to Covid are very small at the current moment.”
This was echoed by provincial DoH spokesperson Mark van der Heever: “Due to the public holidays we do expect delayed testing results. As of 27 December we had 484 active cases, and 26 in hospital admissions. To date we have vaccinated 3 031 119 people in the Western Cape. Vaccination against Covid-19 reduces your risk of becoming severely ill or needing hospitalisation. It is important that we get everyone who is eligible vaccinated and to take up their booster doses. “
Meanwhile, CNN also came in with their latest report, stating that nearly 250 million people in China may have caught the virus in the first 20 days of December, according to an internal estimate from health officials.
CNN reported despite an independent confirmation, 18% of China’s 1.4 billion people were affected.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated this week that 37 million people were newly affected with Covid-19 across China.
WHO added that the pattern of variants were constantly being monitored by their team of scientists.
“WHO, together with scientists and public health professionals around the world, continues to monitor the circulating variants for signs of the next variant of concern.
“WHO and partners also remain concerned that surveillance at the human-animal interface is limited, where the next variant of concern could come from.
“While it might be difficult to stop a new variant from emerging, quick detection and information sharing mean its impact on our lives can be minimised.”
The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU) said a new study published in “Science” shed light on the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant
SU and other African institutions, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin in Germany suggested that Omicron emerged gradually over several months in different countries across Africa.
Dr Tongai Maponga from SU’s Division of Medical Virology said: “This important study sheds light on the question of when, where and how the dominating Omicron variant developed.
“The somewhat unexpected results not only enhance our understanding of the novel virus, but provide valuable guidance on how to better respond – and not to respond – to similar situations in the future.”
They further stated there were two main theories of how the Omicron variant may have emerged: either the virus was transmitted from a human to an animal where it spread and evolved before infecting a human again, or it infected a person with a weakened immune system for a prolonged period during which mutations accumulated.
This new analysis of Covid-19 samples collected in Africa before the first detection of Omicron, just published in “Science”, now casts doubt on both these hypotheses, although not entirely disproving them.