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Hat tip: Jean Marc Benoit, MD

Source: news24

The world continues to grapple with the Omicron variant.

The world continues to grapple with the Omicron variant.Sean Gallup/Getty Images

  • On Monday, 22 November, health officials reported an additional and historic 17 718 Covid-19 infections, creating a sharp spike in the country’s epidemic curve.
  • Days later, scientists announced the discovery of the B1.1.529 variant which was named Omicron, which had a worrying number of mutations that raised concerns over its potential for increased transmissibility.
  • While cases in Gauteng are now increasing dramatically, the timing of the publication of the data gave rise to impressions that SA had seen a major surge in cases just as the world’s attention turned to the country. 

An untimely dump of 17 718 historic Covid-19 cases on 22 November created the impression that South Africa had seen a dire spike in coronavirus infections – just as the country told the world about the Omicron variant.

Within hours of the announcement of the discovery on Thursday, the UK and other countries introduced travel bans which have been slammed by President Cyril Ramaphosa as “unjustified”.

However, at the exact moment the announcement was made, coronavirus data available showed that South Africa had seen a major spike in cases – from 312 on 21 November, to 18 586 on 22 November.

In reality there were only 868 new cases while 17 718 of the cases introduced were historic cases – some as old as April 2020, according to data reviewed by News24.

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