CAPE TOWN - As weekly Covid-19 cases in Africa surged by 93%, with the Omicron variant now reaching more countries on the continent, preliminary data indicates that hospitalisations across South Africa remain low, said the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Emerging data from South Africa indicates that Omicron may cause less severe illness. Data that looked at hospitalisations across South Africa between 14 November and 4 December found that ICU occupancy was only 6.3 % – which is very low compared with the same period when the country was facing the peak linked to the Delta variant in July.
“Data from the same two-week period from one of the health districts most impacted by Omicron found that out of more than 1200 admissions, 98 were receiving supplemental oxygen, and only four were on ventilation. This is very preliminary data with a small sample size, and most of the people admitted to the health facilities were under the age of 40. As the clinical profile of patients changes, the impact of Omicron may change,” said the WHO.
The continent had more than 107 000 cases in the week ending on December 5, up from around 55 000, with five countries accounting for 86% of the cases reported over the past week and all the sub-regions in the continent – up from one the previous week – reported increases in new cases.
The WHO said southern African countries recorded the highest increase, with a 140% hike mainly driven by an uptick in South Africa.
Africa currently accounts for 46% of the nearly 1000 Omicron cases reported by 57 countries across different regions of the world. Ten African countries have reported cases.
“With Omicron now present in nearly 60 countries globally, travel bans that mainly target African countries are hard to justify,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
“We call for science-based public health measures to counter the spread of Covid-19. The travel restrictions come at the height of the end-of-year tourist season, ravaging Africa’s economies, with a knock-on impact that is potentially devastating to the health of Africans,” she said.
Africa has administered 248 million vaccine doses from the more than 372 million received, representing only 3% of the 8.2 billion doses given globally. Only 7.8% of Africa’s population is fully vaccinated.
Only 10 countries, down from 12 the previous week, have less than 10 doses available per 100 people. Six of Africa’s 54 countries have reached the global target of vaccinating 40% of their population by the end of this year.
“What we do know is that uneven distribution of vaccines globally is creating an ideal environment for variants to emerge and spread explosively and regions with the least access to vaccines seem likely to suffer the most. With the end-of-year travel and festivities upon us, limited vaccination, rising Covid-19 cases, and the new variant paint an ominous picture for our region,” said Moeti.