LSouth Africa, the country officially most affected by Covid-19 on the continent, has entered a new wave of the pandemic, the Center for Innovation and Response to Epidemics (CERI) warned at the end of April.
The country announced in early April the lifting of all legal restrictions related to the pandemic.
“South African scientists who identified Omicron late last year have now flagged two other Omicron sub-variants, BA.4 and BA.5, as causing a spike in cases in South Africa,” World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference.
“It is too early to tell whether these new subvariants can cause more severe disease than other Omicron subvariants,” but early data suggests the vaccine continues to provide good protection once morest severe forms of Covid and reduce the risk of death, he said.
“The best way to protect the population remains vaccination, as well as social and public health measures which have proven their worth”, noted Dr Tedros.
The WHO has recorded more than 6.2 million deaths worldwide since the start of the pandemic. Many believe that the actual numbers are much higher.
“Globally, the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths continues to decline, with reported weekly deaths at their lowest level since March 2020,” the WHO chief said.
At the regional level, however, the WHO notes an increase in cases on the African and American continents, driven by the subvariants of Omicron.
Dr. Tedros deplored the reduction in screening activities in some countries, which prevents the evolution of the virus from being monitored and forces the WHO to pilot the pandemic “blindly”.