Health department investigating severity of Covid variant XBB.1.5

The Department of Health says it is still investigating the severity of the newly-discovered highly transmissible Covid omicron variant.

The department said it was alerted to the presence of the new XBB.1.5 variant on Saturday and was gathering more information on its transmissibility and severity.

NOW READ: Highly contagious Covid variant XBB.1.5 found in SA

‘No need to panic’

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Monday, Department of Health vaccination team leader Dr Lesley Bamford said there was no need to panic, as the matter was being monitored closely.

“As we indicated, a case of the new sub-variant has been found in South Africa. We are still waiting for all the details to announce officially.

“There is evidence from around the world that the sub-variant may be more transmissible but currently, there is nothing to suggest that disease caused by this subvariant is more severe than disease caused by other sub variants,” said Bamford.

Covid-19 still exists

She pointed out that there was a perception that Covid-19 was a thing of the past, which is untrue.  

South Africans should start wearing face masks again and continue to get vaccinations, the department advised.

Symptoms

The symptoms of the Covid XBB.1.5 variant are similar to the previous omicron variants and resemble cold-like symptoms such as runny nose, sore throat, cough and congestion. Those infected with the new variant are less likely to experience fevers.

Coronavirus cases

The world recorded more than two million daily coronavirus cases on average between January 1 and 7, with figures doubling in 10 days, an AFP tally shows.

An average of 2.106,118 new daily infections were reported over the seven-day period, shortly after the one million case threshold was passed in the week of December 23-29, 2021.

New global case numbers have soared by 270 percent since the highly contagious Omicron variant was discovered in South Africa in late November.

But Covid-related deaths were at their lowest level since October 2020, with an average of 6,237 per day recorded in the period between January 1 and 7.

Safety measures

The department, however, said South Africans should start taking precautions such as:

• Vaccinating
• Getting booster shots
• Avoiding crowded places
• Keeping a distance between yourself and other people
• Wearing a face mask
• Washing hands frequently

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