JOHANNESBURG — South Africa has officially entered its third wave of coronavirus
infections, health authorities said, with rising caseloads and a sluggish
vaccine rollout fueling fears of fresh strain on the health system.
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"South Africa technically entered the 3rd wave today as the national
7-day moving average incidence (5959 cases) now exceeds the new wave threshold
as defined by the Ministerial Advisory Committee," the National Institute
for Communicable Diseases tweeted on Thursday.
The health ministry later announced that it had detected over 9,100 cases in
24 hours approaching the levels seen at the peak of South Africa's second wave
in December.
Chilly winter weather is also fueling concerns of a resurge in Africa's
worst-hit country.
Four of South Africa's nine provinces were hit by a third infection wave in
late May, including the most populous Gauteng province -- home to the
administrative capital Pretoria and financial hub Johannesburg.
President Cyril Ramaphosa last month tightened a nightime curfew and
reintroduced limits on social gatherings in a bid to stem the spread of the
virus.
To date, South Africa has recorded more than 1.7 million coronavirus cases
-- around 34 percent of the continent's reported infections -- of which at
least 57,410 have been fatal.
The country was hit by a second wave in December that peaked at around
10,000 new cases reported per day.
That resurge was fuelled by the more transmissible Beta virus variant, first
identified in South Africa, which contributed to delaying the country's
inoculation plans due to its resistance to certain vaccines.
After several setbacks, the government now aims to vaccinate 60 percent of
South Africa's 59 million inhabitants by March 2022.
But just over one percent of the population have received jabs since
February, prompting criticism of the government's vaccine procurement strategy.
Ramaphosa has accused richer countries of hoarding
Covid-19 shots, saying
the situation could lead to a "vaccine apartheid".
South Africa and India are pressing the
World Trade Organization to waive
intellectual property rights on coronavirus jabs and drugs in order to
facilitate production and access for developing countries.
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