South Africa’s COVID Cases Reach 3Million Amid Omicron Fueled Surge

On Friday, South Africa’s COVID-19 infections hit a record 3 million as the new wave driven by the Omicron variant rips through the country.

The government on Friday reported 16,055 new cases over a 24 hour period, taking the cumulative lab-confirmed cases to 3,004,203. It further said that the increase represents a 24.3 percent positivity rate.

The majority of the new cases reported on Friday at 72%, were detected in Gauteng province, the most populous of the country’s provinces.

Gauteng province hosts the capital Pretoria and is also home to the country’s economic and financial hub, Johannesburg. It has emerged as the epicenter of the new variant since scientists first detected it there last week.

The province surpassed the 10,000 projection, recording 11,553 cases on Friday. Other provinces recorded less than 1,000 cases each.

Authorities blame the sharp rise in cases on the highly contagious new omicron strain. The numbers of fatalities however still remain relatively low, with 25 COVID-19 deaths reported on Friday. This took the death toll to 89,944 since the onset of the pandemic.

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