Covid-19 fifth wave likely expected in early May, warns Professor Abdool Karim

Prominent infectious disease expert, Professor Abdool Karim warned that a fifth Covid-19 wave is likely to hit the country in early May.

According to Professor Karim, this will largely be dependent on the emergence of a new coronavirus variant.

“If the past trends continue, we can expect that we will see a fifth wave sometime in early May.”

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Covid XE variant: South Africans shouldn’t panic about new Omicron mutation

Health experts have urged South Africans not to panic over ‘XE’, the new Covid-19 mutant strain of the Omicron variant, following reports by the World Health Organisation that it may be more transmissible than any other strain thus far.

According to epidemiologist and senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria, Dr Elize Webb, although the variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in mid-January, with more than 600 cases identified there so far, no other country has identified a case of the sub-variant.

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Covid-19 statistics

As of April 14, a total of 3 737 346 positive cases had been recorded in South Africa since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the preceding 24 hours, 1 768 new cases and 6 new deaths were reported in the last 24 to 48 hours.

The cumulative death toll was 100 138 while recoveries stood at 3 625 407. The total number of vaccines administered was 34 350 787.