Zimbabwe detects case of Omicron variant in country

Zimbabwe has detected a case of the Omicron variant in the country, its Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said on Thursday on state television.

“We are now in a particularly dangerous period once again, where the fourth wave is slowly visiting us with the identification of the B.1.1.529 or the Omicron variant of COVID-19,” Chiwenga, who is also the country’s Health Minister said on national TV.

Chiwenga did not give details of how many cases of Omicron infections had been recorded in the country.

As of December 1,  Zimbabwe had reported 4 707 deaths from a total 135 337 cases.

Africa stats:

Ghana 

Meanwhile, Ghana detected the Omicron coronavirus variant in 34 samples from travellers who returned to the country from November 21-25, according to data from the state institute responsible for coronavirus testing.

The Health Ministry on Wednesday announced it had detected the country’s first imported cases of the variant, but did not say how many cases had been identified.

A graphic released by the Noguchi research institute on Thursday said it had checked 120 samples from returning travellers and found 34 that were positive for the variant. It gave no further details about the travellers that were tested.

“These are the first imported cases of the variant in Ghana and we are closely monitoring its potential spread in the community,” the institute said in the data graphic, which was shared by its spokesperson.

The new variant, which has caused global fears of a surge in infections, was first detected in southern Africa and is fast overtaking Delta to become the dominant variant in South Africa, where case numbers are rising dramatically.

SA records over 11 500 new cases 

Coronavirus cases in South Africa continue to show a huge surge, with new infections at 11 535 in the past 24-hours, with a more than 3 000 increase from Wednesday’s figure.

This increase represents a 22.4% positivity rate. 

Total cases in the country now stand at 2 988 148.

A further 44 people have succumbed to COVID-19 related illnesses, taking total deaths to 89 915.

SA’s latest COVID-19 stats: 

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-Additional reporting by SABC News 

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