Omicron - The African Mirror

Apr

2022

South Africa says it may be entering fifth COVID wave

ALEXANDER WINNING and WENDELL ROELF SOUTH AFRICA may be entering a fifth COVID wave earlier than expected after a sustained rise in infections over the past 14 days that seems to be driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron sub-variants, health officials and scientists said on Friday. The country that has recorded the most coronavirus cases and deaths on the African continent only exited a fourth wave around January and had predicted a fifth wave could start in May or June, early in the southern hemisphere winter. Health Minister Joe Phaahla told a briefing that although hospitalisations were picking up…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

South African students shrug off Omicron and fret about exams

COVID-19

TIM COCKS THE students knew their South African university was the epicentre of a new COVID-19 variant spreading panic across the globe, but over the past week, many worried more about how Omicron would mess up exams and holiday plans than about catching it. At the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), in the capital Pretoria, learners languidly walked across the green campus shaded by trees, chatting, buying soft drinks, staring at their phones and sitting on benches overlooking a pond. Most wore masks; a few didn't. Many were vaccinated; some obstinately were not. Around 30 students interviewed by Reuters were…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Senegal records first Omicron case in tourist who attended demonstration

COVID-19

SENEGAL has recorded its first case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in a tourist who attended a demonstration in the capital Dakar last month with about 300 people of varying nationalities, testing lab IRESSEF said on Sunday. The 58-year-old man was visiting from another West African country and tested positive when leaving Senegal on Friday. He is under quarantine and has no symptoms, the lab said in a statement.

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Omicron may throw wrench in companies’ plans to return to office

BUSINESS

BEN KLAYMAN COMPANY executives are beginning to consider different permanent work models for their employees as the coronavirus pandemic, and the spread of the Omicron variant, destabilize their latest return-to-office plans. With Omicron so new, companies are struggling to understand how the variant might affect their operations and profits. Most have taken a wait-and-see stance as they weigh how fast the variant may spread and its potential harmfulness, although Alphabet Inc's Google was indefinitely delaying its return-to-office plan around the world. Luxury toilet maker Lixil Corp's chief people officer, Jin Montesano, told the Reuters Next conference this week that the…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

South Africa hit by fourth COVID wave driven by Omicron

COVID-19

WENDELL ROELF SOUTH Africa is being hit by a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant which has been detected in seven of the country's nine provinces, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said has revealed. Omicron, which has raised global fears of a surge in infections, was first detected in southern Africa last month and has prompted governments across continents to impose travel curbs and take other measures to contain it. Phaahla told a media briefing that he hoped that the variant could be managed without causing too many deaths. He urged South Africans to get fully vaccinated,…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Diplomats brought Omicron from Europe’

NEWS

BOTSWANA’S President Mokgweetsi Masisi said some of the four diplomats who first tested positive for the Omicron coronavirus variant in the country had come from Europe, calling for a reversal of widespread travel bans imposed against southern African countries. Omicron dubbed a variant of concern by the World Health Organization, has prompted many governments to impose curbs on travel from southern Africa and to take other measures to contain it. While it is still not established where Omicron first emerged, on November 25 South Africa, followed by Botswana a day later, announced they had detected a new variant whose mutations…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

FACTBOX-What COVID-19 vaccine and drug makers have to say about Omicron

COVID-19

THE Omicron variant of the coronavirus has sparked fears that existing COVID-19 vaccines and treatment could be less effective against it. South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases said early epidemiological data suggested Omicron was able to evade some immunity, but existing vaccines should still protect against severe disease and death. Here's what companies that make COVID-19 vaccines and drugs have said: MODERNA CEO Stéphane Bancel has warned that COVID-19 vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron variant. The company has said a new vaccine tailored for Omicron should be available as soon as March. PFIZER-BIONTECH "We…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana says 34 samples from returning travellers test positive for Omicron

COVID-19

GHANA detected the Omicron coronavirus variant in 34 samples from travellers who returned to the country from November 21-25, according to data from the state institute responsible for coronavirus testing. The health ministry on Wednesday announced it had detected the country's first imported cases of the variant, but did not say how many cases had been identified. A graphic released by the Noguchi research institute on Thursday said it had checked 120 samples from returning travellers and found 34 that were positive for the variant. It gave no further details about the travellers that were tested. "These are the first…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Omicron ‘blaming’ shows persistence of racism in healthcare’

HEALTH

DONNA BRYSON THE persistence of racism is evident once again with the "blaming and shaming" of African nations for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, health advocate Dr Joia Crear-Perry said on Wednesday. Speaking at a Reuters Next panel on racial disparities in Black maternal healthcare, Crear-Perry said the medical profession in the United States needed to stop resorting to racist tropes and start truth-telling. "Even if you look at the latest blaming and shaming that's happening around the latest Omicron variant you see the same history, the same racist trope of blaming certain places, assuming white nations and nations…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

S.Africa festival halted after 36 test positive for COVID on site

COVID-19

ROGAN WARD ORGANISERS halted a music festival for young people on the South African coast on Wednesday after 36 people tested positive for COVID-19 at the site, the latest impact from a new wave of infections sweeping across the country. South Africa has found itself in the international spotlight since announcing last week that it had detected the new Omicron variant, which the World Health Organisation said posed a very high global risk of infection surges. New infections in the country rose to 4,373 cases on Tuesday from 2,273 on Monday. Omicron is expected to trigger a fourth wave, with…