The National South Africa Department of Health confirmed that Omicron sublineages BA.4 and BA.5 have existence in society and country.
According to the Department’s spokesperson, ‘Foster Mohale, there are a total of five sub-variants of Omicron being observed around the world. However, we are currently watching two— BA.4 and BA.5.
Furthermore, as per reports, Mohale stated that BA.4 subvariant’s dominance had not caused severe transmission.
Moreover, the power of BA.4 has not resulted in any change in their transmission rate or severity. He added that these subvariants are not affecting, nor are they going to affect, the 5th wave.
According to the Department’s research, it is expected that the fifth wave of the pandemic is coming by the end of May.
Professor Tulio de Oliveira of the University of KwaZulu-Natal also gave his views about the new subvariants but said no cause for concern.
New Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 were caught in South Africa, Botswana, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and the UK. Early signs that these new sublineages are increasing as a share of genomically confirmed cases in SA. He tweeted, ” there is no cause for alarm as no major spike in cases, admissions or deaths in SA,” he tweeted.
According to Abdul Karim, an infectious disease epidemiologist at SAfm Radio, the variation that would replace the Omicron would spread considerably faster. It was impossible to tell if the new variety would be severe or minor.
He added that each new variant has been able to spread faster than the one before it.
As a result of the Beta and Delta variants, the second and third waves in South Africa were more powerful. However, the fourth wave associated with an Omicron variant had fewer hospitalizations and deaths.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa found 1,291 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, representing a 5.6 percent positivity rate. Two people lost their lives over the same period, which bought the total number of deaths to 100,116.
