Following the detection of the new COVID-19 strain, South Africa has registered more than one million cases to date. The situation has prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to call an emergency meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council.
The new South Africa variant of the virus, 501.V2, is reported to be more contagious and has quickly become dominant in many areas of the resurgence. Several hospitals and medical centres have also reported a huge rise in admissions and Ramaphosa is expected to announce a return to restrictive measures designed to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
South Africa has confirmed nearly 1,004,413 cases of COVID-19 infections and 26,753 deaths since the outbreak began in March. Lessels said that one million is a “serious milestone” but also added that the true number of cases and deaths is almost certainly much higher. He pointed out that the new variant’s genomic sequencing shows it has become dominant in the coastal provinces of Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.
