APA-Johannesburg (South Africa) South African health experts on Monday called for a return to the wearing of face masks and reintroduction of social distancing in the wake of the recent discovery of a new COVID-19 variant in Asia, Europe and North America.
South African Medical Association (SAMA) chairperson Mvuyisi Mzukwa told the state-run South African Broadcasting Corporation that the new variant known as EG. 5 is said to be more transmissible than any of the previous variants.
Recommending the wearing of masks and social distancing going forward, Mzukwa warned that the new variant is also dangerous to people who have not been vaccinated and those over the age of 65.
“Government should be encouraging citizens to vaccinate especially those that are at higher risk, prevent infection and obviously there should be a continuous public message on education on how to avoid infections,” the SAMA chief said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) however said, based on available evidence, “the public health risk posed by EG.5 is evaluated as low at the global level.”
“While concurrent increases in the proportion of EG.5 and COVID-19 hospitalisations (lower than previous waves) have been observed in countries such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, no associations have been made between these hospitalisations and EG.5,” the WHO said in a statement last week.
It added: “However, due to its growth advantage and immune escape characteristics, EG.5 may cause a rise in case incidence and become dominant in some countries or even globally.”
South Africa had Africa’s largest COVID-19 caseload, with over four million confirmed cases and more than 102,000 deaths as of August 9, according to WHO.
The country’s caseload accounts for at least 42 percent of the total number of 9.6 million confirmed cases on the continent.
JN/APA