NATIONAL NEWS - The National Department of Health at the weekend said it is in discussions with scientists to gather more information on the highly transmissible XBB.1.5 coronavirus sub-variant that has also been detected in South Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has also stated that the National Coronavirus Council (NCC) will be meeting on Tuesday 10 January to deliberate on the matter.
Dr Maria van Kerkhove, Covid-19 technical lead at the World Health Organisation (WHO), said in a 4 January media briefing that XBB.1.5 is the most transmissible sub-variant that has been detected yet, however, there is no data on severity yet and also no indication that severity has changed with XBB.1.5.
It has been nicknamed 'Kraken' due to its ability to spread.
No need to panic
Similar to various other health experts, Prof Abdool Karim, epidemiologist from the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC), has said that there is no need to panic. Speaking on the television news channel eNCA, Karim said XBB.1.5 has descended from the BA.5 variant which had already caused a wave of infections last year, adding to widespread immunity among citizens. "We do not expect that this new version of Omicron is going to cause any more severe disease than just a spike in infections at most and then we could expect it not to pose any serious threats."
Karim said XBB.1.5 has been spreading in many parts of the world for months, and has caused a wave in the US which has not led to many hospitalisations. "What we have seen from the clinical picture in other countries, is while XBB.1.5 may lead to additional infections, it does not really lead to any significant increases in hospitalisations."
He advised the elderly to take extra precautions as their risk of more serious disease is slightly higher. "My advice to everybody is to make sure to take three doses of the vaccine. If you have taken your last dose more than six to nine months ago, if you are over 60, take another dose."
Van Kerkhove said there is concern about XBB.1.5's "growth advantage" in especially Europe and North America where it has rapidly replaced other circulating variants. "We do expect further waves of infection around the world, but that does not have to translate into further waves of death because our counter measures continue to work."
The Western Cape Provincial Health Department said it is continuing its surveillance and monitoring of Covid-19 cases, hospitalisations, and deaths from a number of Covid-19 variants.
In South Africa XBB.1.5 was detected by Stellenbosch University's Network for Genomics Surveillance.
George Herald earlier today published an article, Ministry warns of new coronavirus variant, which contained some unverified information and has since been removed from all our sites. It was submitted to our online team by a freelance journalist from one of our branches and published in good faith on all Group Editors’ sites.
The freelance journalist received the statement from a private ambulance service in the Eastern Cape that believed it to be an authentic statement issued by the department of health.
We apologise for any inconvenience and remain committed to accurate reporting and will be more vigilant in future.
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