South Africa has urged citizens to continue observing some Covid-19 safety measures following a slight increase in new coronavirus infections in the country as a result of less severe Omicron sub-variants BA4 and BA5.
Health Ministry spokesperson Foster Mohale said his office had been monitoring new infections of the Omicron subvariants BA4 and BA5 found in some provinces like Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, and the Western Cape.
“As the Ministry of Health, we can confirm that there is a slight increase in the number of Covid-19-positive cases and deaths in some parts of the country, especially in provinces like the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, and the Western Cape,” Mohale said.
“This is a confirmation that the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions does not mean that the pandemic is over,” he said.
He added: “This is also evidence that many people are still being infected and the Covid-19 is still very much around us.”
Mohale confirmed there was no new variant of Covid-19 detected in the country, while “the latest infections are driven by less severe existing Omicron variants known as BA4 and BA5,” he said.
“Therefore, there is no new variant of concern detected in South Africa due to the level of immunity being fairly high around the country,” Mohale said.
NM/as/APA