Thread by @SAgovnews

@Healthza Minister Dr Joe Phaahla and his Deputy Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo will this morning convene a virtual media briefing on government efforts in the fight against #COVID19 and the national vaccination rollout programme.

Minister Phaahla: The confirmation of the new variant in the Tshwane area explained the steep rise in new infections, which has now spread across Gauteng.

Minister Phaahla: We again want to take this opportunity to thank our team of scientists who really worked very hard in identifying this variant, #Omicron.

Minister Phaahla: It is indeed a matter of regret and hypocrisy by some countries that some countries have slapped us with travel bans, which included also many of our neighbours in the SADC region.

Minister Phaahla: There has been a steep rise in infections in the past seven days. We have moved from a total of around 2 565 new cases on Thursday last week when this variant was announced to the highs of 11 555 yesterday.

Minister Phaahla: Over the last seven days, the new spike has moved into the whole of Gauteng and also registered a presence in all our nine provinces, with numbers starting to rise in the Western Cape.

Minister Phaahla: Indications are that this variant is indeed highly transmissible, including infections of people who have been vaccinated. But, of course, infections are causing mostly mild illness, especially for those who are vaccinated.

Minister Phaahla: Hospital admissions are mainly dominated by those who are not vaccinated and young people below the age of 40 most of whom are not vaccinated.

Minister Phaahla: New cases increased by more than 300% in the last seven days, while the positivity rate now stands at 22% from the lows of 1% to 2% about two weeks ago.

Minister Phaahla: While there are still some questions around the #Omicron variant with more research still going on. The evidence very clear thus far is that like all previous variants, our best protection against serious illness is vaccination.

@NICD's Dr Michelle Groome: And so it just two weeks ago, we were seeing a seven-day moving average of just over 300 and yesterday our seven-day moving average was 4 814.

@NICD's Dr Groome: While many of these cluster infections started in our younger people, we are seeing a spread into the older age groups, as this wave progresses.

@nicd_sa's Dr Waasila Jassat: The other provinces' hospital admissions are also starting to increase including the average deaths as well.

@nicd_sa's Dr Jassat: In Gauteng, there has been an increase in hospital admissions both in the public and private sectors.

@nicd_sa's Dr Jassat: At the start of the #fourthwave we've seen quite a sharp increase across all age groups, but particularly hospital admissions in children who are under the age of five.

@nicd_sa Dr Groome: The Northern Cape is the only province so far that hasn't seen an increase in new infections.

@nicd_sa's Dr Groome: Early evidence shows that this variant is more transmissible and that there's a degree of immune escape.

@nicd_sa's Dr Groome: We encourage everyone to vaccinate.

@GautengHealth's Ntsakisi Maluleke: We are currently sitting at 1 351 in hospital patients across both public and private sectors with the majority of these patients being in general ward beds.

@GautengHealth's Maluleke: Data collected shows that 23% of the hospital admissions are unvaccinated patients.

@HealthZA's Ramphelane Morewane: We have key pillars that we used when we were planning for the #fourthwave.

@HealthZA's Morewane: There's an oxygen task team that meets every day. We also activated resurgence plans in all facilities. We're also paying special attention to the paediatric wards.

Minister Phaahla: Keep away from "mixing" with people if you know you're isolating, like going to queue for medicine or buying groceries.

@GautengHealth Dr Maluleke: The positivity rate in Gauteng now stands at 34%.

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[Read] The fourth wave has sparked an increase in hospital admissions in children under the age of five, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said @nicd_sa @HealthZA #COVID19 tinyurl.com/hz6s8yad

[Read] @HealthZA Minister, Dr Joe Phaahla, has urged citizens to not let their guard down and vaccinate as the number of new #COVID19 infections is on the rise @nicd_sa tinyurl.com/ycksphbb