Category: In The News

Those who have had COVID-19 may be reinfected more easily with the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, currently spreading across the world.

According to preliminary analysis by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), scientists are noting a high rate of reinfections during the current resurgence compared to the previous waves.

“Now we’re seeing an increase for Omicron and that speaks to the fact that in our population with a high seroprevalence, where many people have had the previous infection. We believe that previous infection does not provide them protection from infection due to Omicron,” said Professor Anne von Gottberg.

Von Gottberg, who is a Clinical Microbiologist at the NICD’s Centre for Respiratory Diseases and Meningitis, was a panellist at a press conference on Omicron and the vaccine rollout in Africa.

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Photo: Flickr / GCIS

A ttotal of 51,977 Covid-19 tests were done in the last 24 hours, with 8,561 new cases, representing a positivity rate of 16.5%.

72% of these cases came from Gauteng.

South Africa reported 4 373 coronavirus cases yesterday, which means that the number of daily cases has increased by 96% in the past 24 hours.

#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 51,977 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 8,561 new cases, which represents a 16.5% positivity rate. A further 28 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,871 to date. See more here: https://t.co/X0vY4ETj4i pic.twitter.com/NgjtzIOcW5

— NICD (@nicd_sa) December 1, 2021

The Omikron variant has already been reported in five provinces across the country.

Experts estimate that by the end of the week, South Africa will record more than 10,000 new cases a day, with President Cyril Ramaphosa possibly speaking to citizens on Sunday night.

AfriNuus reported on 14 September that Salim Abdool Karim, epidemiologist, predicts that the fourth wave could last from 2 December this year to 15 February 2022 (75 days).

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Photo: NICD

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has announced the readjustment of the price of both 93 and 95 ULP and LRP grades.

“The DMRE regrets to announce that the adjustment of the petrol price announced on Monday, 29 November was erroneous,” said the department on Wednesday.

On Monday, the department announced that the price of petrol (both 93 and 95) will go up by 81c per litre taking the price to R20.35 a litre in Gauteng as of Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the department announced that the price of petrol has risen by 75 cents a litre instead. This means that a litre of 95 ULP in Gauteng, which currently costs to R20.35 will now cost R20.29.

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Photo: Unsplash

South Africa recorded 4 373 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, of which 3 143 were reported in Gauteng alone.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), this means there is now a total number of 2 968 052 laboratory-confirmed cases.

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#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 42,664 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 4,373 new cases, which represents a 10.2% positivity rate. A further 21#COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,843 to date. See more here: https://t.co/3BT7JBpqpk pic.twitter.com/JYApP60Wbg

— NICD (@nicd_sa) November 30, 2021

Photo: Unsplash

The number of unemployed South Africans rose by 0.5% in the third quarter (Q3) of 2021, Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke has announced.

The rise saw the country’s unemployment reach 34.9%. 

Read more below:

[Thread]
South Africa’s #unemployment rate increased by 0,5 of a percentage point to 34,9% in Q3:2021 compared to Q2:2021.

Read more here: https://t.co/e1FvULVL24#StatsSA pic.twitter.com/xKnJJjoYqf

— Stats SA (@StatsSA) November 30, 2021

Photo: Unsplash

South Africa’s COVID-19 caseload is edging closer to three million after 2 273 new infections were recorded in the past 24 hours.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), this pushes the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 963 679.

Read below more:

#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 21,302 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 2,273 new cases, which represents a 10.7% positivity rate. A further 25 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,822 to date. See more here: https://t.co/YG74RzR3kH pic.twitter.com/I1c08llnaT

— NICD (@nicd_sa) November 29, 2021

Photo: Unsplash

South Africans will be paying more at the pumps from Wednesday when fuel prices are expected to increase.

According to the Mineral Resources and Energy Department, the price of petrol (both 93 and 95) will go up by 81c per litre, while the price of diesel 0.05% will increase by 72c and diesel 0.005% sulphur will increase by 75c per litre.

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Photo: Unsplash

South Africa has reported 2 858 new COVID-19 cases, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) figures.
This was 362 fewer infections logged than the previous day.

Read more below:

#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 29,245 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, with 2,858 new cases, which represents a 9.8% positivity rate. A further 6 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89,797 to date. See more here: https://t.co/SGGwO0lI02 pic.twitter.com/cCm1yzjtun

— NICD (@nicd_sa) November 28, 2021

Photo: Unsplash

Ramaphosa replied to questions in the National Assembly.

“The recent load shedding – which has disrupted daily life for millions of South Africans and caused great damage to our economy – is a stark reminder of the severe and intractable challenges in our electricity system,” Ramaphosa said.

“Load shedding is always the last resort where demand for electricity is greater than what can be produced. It is necessary to prevent the collapse of the power grid and a complete blackout.”

“At its core, load-shedding is the inevitable consequence of the age of many of Eskom’s power plants and its inability over many years – due to debt, lack of capacity and state capture – to service its power plants.”

“Eskom has to undertake the fundamental maintenance that is necessary to improve the reliability of our electricity supply.”

“As it continues with maintenance, load-shedding will remain a possibility for the immediate future.”
 “But we are not simply waiting for the inevitable. We are working hard to fix this problem.”

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Photo: Flickr / GCIS

Health Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has confirmed that a new COVID-19 variant has been detected in South Africa.

The Minister, who was speaking during a media briefing on Thursday, believes that the new COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.529, may have been tied to the recent cluster outbreaks in Gauteng.

“You can be rest assured that as people move in the next coming weeks, this [variant] will be all over,” Phaahla warned.

BREAKING NEWS: We confirm that through collaborative efforts with private laboratories and the NGS-SA members, a new COVID-19 variant, B.1.1.529, has been detected in South Africa. Read more here https://t.co/0ht7nmMkJg

— NICD (@nicd_sa) November 25, 2021

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