South Africa

“Omicron may foreshadow the end of the epidemic phase of the COVID pandemic.” This is the conclusion of a team of South African scientists after analyzing the hospitalizations at the Steve Bilko Academic Hospital in Pretoria.   According to the researchers, the omicron variant spreads remarkably quickly but is a lot less pathogenic. The number of people admitted to intensive care or who died is noticeably lower than in the delta variant. Therefore, the researchers conclude that omicron may well initiate the endemic phase. At that time, the coronavirus can still flare up regularly, but it no longer causes major problems - a bit comparable to the annual flu season. Their research found that barely 4.5 percent of all patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 died. In the previous w...

South Africa gives its supply of AstraZeneca vaccines to the African Union. The country is not using the drug itself because it would not work well against a South African corona mutation.   The vaccination campaign was suspended after it appeared that the British-Swedish AstraZeneca vaccine offers little protection against the South African virus variant. Hopes are now pinned on the vaccine from pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, and the first 80,000 dose delivery expected this week. Of which 9 million doses have been ordered, that drug has yet to be approved for use. 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine will follow later. The aim is still to vaccinate 40 million people - two-thirds of the population - this year. The country hit hard by the virus is giving its 1 mil...

South Africa is introducing a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. "From midnight on Thursday, March 26, to midnight on Thursday, April 16, all South Africans must stay at home," said President Cyril Ramaphosa.   Citizens are still allowed to buy food or leave their home for a medical appointment. The government has also decided that virtually all stores should close. An exception is made for pharmacies, banks, supermarkets, petrol stations and some institutions. International travellers who have arrived from risk countries since March 9 are required to be quarantined at their hotel for a fortnight. The army is deployed to support the police. In South Africa, 402 people have so far been diagnosed with the coronavirus. The president said in a speech that d...