Omicron may soon outrun Delta cases in South Africa

New Delhi: The newly detected super mutant Omicron variant is most likely to outcompete Covid infections caused by Delta strain in South Africa, claim the country's health officials.

Omicron was first detected in a sample taken on November 8 in Gauteng, South Africa's most populous province, and was officially reported on November 24.

The omicron variant has, so far, been detected in five of South Africa's nine provinces and accounted for 74 per cent of the virus genomes sequenced in November, according to National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Wednesday.

According to the NICD, nearly three-quarters of the 249 positive test samples that were checked genetically in South Africa in November were found to involve the Omicron variant.

"#Omicron dominates November sequencing data at 74 per cent of genomes (n183/249). Sequencing is ongoing to determine prevalence of Omicron in other provinces," the NICD shared in a tweet.

New cases are rising sharply in South Africa, after having dropped to low levels in recent months. From a weekly average of around 300 new cases per day to 1,000 last week, and most recently 3,500, Wednesday saw 8,651 new cases. The share of tests that are coming back positive rose to 16.5 per cent, from 10.2 per cent on Tuesday, the institute said. As of December 1, "the cumulative number of #Covid19 cases identified in South Africa are 2,976,613 with 8,561 new cases reported," South Africa's health ministry wrote on Twitter.