South Africa’s Omicron crisis is not slowing down. Daily infections have nearly tripled in one week.
In the past 24 hours, the National Institute For Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported an additional 6,381 cases. This is 180 percent more than the number last Monday.
Although this was lower than yesterday’s 11,000 figure, tens to thousands fewer tests were performed.
In the meantime, hospital admissions increased by 175 to 175 and Covid death rates have fallen slightly.
Experts warn that the super-strain driving today’s latest wave of cannabis could quickly become the dominant strain in the UK within weeks.
While it’s not known what effect the strain will have upon severe illnesses, hospitalisations, and deaths, experts worry that the mutations in this strain could make it difficult to avoid two doses Covid jabs or previous infections.
So far doctors are reporting mild cases.
However, experts caution that this variant could also spread among young people. The lag time between becoming infected and being seriously ill may be masking how severe the disease is.




South Africa’s case numbers have risen dramatically since Omicron first became known. This month the country saw 358 new cases per day, as opposed to 6,381 currently registered. Although the daily rate is lower than Tuesday’s, this is due to the low number of people who were screened yesterday. The positivity rate — the proportion of all tests conducted that are confirmed Covid cases — rose to a record 26.4 per cent

The virus was found in 175 South Africans, an increase of 121.5 percent on the number of 79 patients admitted last Monday. In a single week, there are 3,517 people in hospitals with the virus. This is an increase of 51.1 percentage. Image: The graph displays weekly Covid hospitalisations
South Africa’s case numbers have risen dramatically since Omicron was discovered.
The country had 358 more cases than the 6.381 currently registered.
Although the daily average is lower than Tuesday’s, this is due to the low number of people who were swabbed over the weekend (24,159).
The positivity rate — the proportion of all tests conducted that are confirmed Covid cases — rose to a record 26.4 per cent.
For comparison, the UK’s positivity rate on December 1 was 4.3 per cent — with 1.2million tests conducted and more than 51,000 testing positive.
The vast majority of cases remain concentrated in the Gauteng province, the epicentre of the outbreak, where 4,488 cases were recorded.
KwaZulu-Natal, in the east, recorded 635 cases, while Mpumalanga in the north east, registered 337 infections.
The highly evolved variant, which is a combination of increased infectiousness, vaccine resistance, and antibody escape has been shown to be three-and-a half times more likely that Delta. This according to real world data
In the meantime, 175 South Africans have been hospitalized with the virus. This is an increase of 121.5 percent from the 79 patients admitted last Monday.
Hospitalizations for patients with the virus have increased by 51.1 percent in just one week to 3,517.
Meanwhile, nine deaths were recorded — a drop of 64 per cent compared to last Monday’s figure.
South African physicians insist most of their patients are suffering from mild disease. The top Covid specialist Dr Anthony Fauci claims that today’s claim ‘doesn’t appear like it’s very severe’.
However, British scientists including those from the Government have been critical of this narrative, saying that it’s a weaker strain and that the NHS could be under significant pressure due to the fact that it infects more people.
One mathematical modeller predicted there could be up to 3,000 hospital admissions per day in the UK in January if Omicron takes off domestically — compared to the 4,000 per day at the peak last year.
It comes as the UK recorded 51,459 new cases in the last 24 hours which was a fifth more than last Monday and the third time in a week that they have breached the 50,000 mark. The number of deaths was also up by 17% compared with a week ago.
On Sunday, another 290,165 booster shots were administered across the nation, far less than No10’s target of 500,000 per day last week in order to protect against the Omicron wave.

This image has caused fear in scientists and prompted ministers at the UK to accelerate the rollout of booster vaccines. In England, mask mandates have returned. Experts fear that the super-mutant Omicron Omicron variant will be the most dangerous and vaccine-resistant yet. This graphic was released by the nation’s leading variant monitoring team. It also shows how the strain is more advanced than the Delta strain. There are nearly five times the number of modifications to the spike.

There are approximately 46,000 Covid cases per day in Britain. Data from Covid Genomics UK Consortium suggests that the new strain may be behind about one-third of those 66, which is 1.4 percent.




Today, there were 90 additional confirmed cases in England and Scotland of this variant. This brings the total UK to 336, and is increasing by nearly a third per day.
Experts warn that the actual number of Omicron cases will exceed 1,000 as not all positive specimens are sequenced. Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary of England, confirmed today that Omicron has been transmitted in multiple areas of England.
Paul Hunter, an infectious diseases expert from the University of East Anglia said that it would be the dominant variant within the next few weeks or months. This is based on the rapid pace at which it has outpaced Delta in South African epicentre.
He stated that while the timeline doesn’t suggest there will be any additional curbs on Christmas, it does leave room for some restrictions in the New Year.
Boris Johnson, however, refused today to exclude tougher Covid restrictions over Christmas. He simply stated that this year’s Christmas would be “better” than the previous one.
In two weeks, he will review current measures. On a visit to Merseyside, Mr Johnson stated that he was still waiting for information about how hazardous it is and what effect it will have on deaths and hospitalisations.
Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at the University of Reading, said it was ‘entirely possible’ that Omicron could trigger a wave of hospital admissions on par with the peak in January 2021 — even if it is milder than Delta.
MailOnline spoke to him: “It isn’t unusual for a less transmissible, yet more deadly pathogen to pose a greater problem than one that’s less fatal.” Even if it is infecting a high number of patients, but hospitalizing a smaller percentage, there could be a substantial increase in the hospitalizations.
Clarke stated that Omicron scientists were putting at risk the possibility of ‘whitewashing’ its dangers. They also created a false sense security for people by claiming it to be a mild condition. Clarke said that Britons may not be able to get their boosters or adjust their behavior if the strain is mild. This claim he doubts.