South Africa has entered a new phase of the COVID pandemic: what that means
CONFIRMED cases of SARS-CoV-2 have been increasing in South Africa in recent weeks. This has been largely driven by two offspring – known as the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-lineages – of the Omicron variant first identified in South Africa late last year. What’s notable about the most recent spike is that there are a number of differences between what the country is currently experiencing and the first four waves of COVID-19 in South Africa. Authors MICHELLE J. GROOME, Head of the Division of Public Health Surveillance and Response, National Institute for Communicable Diseases JULIET PULLIAM, Director: SACEMA, South African Centre…