A person travelling from India tested positive for COVID-19, sending South African’s into a scurry. The individual, who was hospitalised, has not, however, tested positive for the lethal variant that is decimating people in India.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) has reportedly rejected claims that a new COVID-19 variant, first detected in India has been found in South Africa.
Nonetheless, SA remains on high alert.
News24 quoted a source from the COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) as saying the individual was seen at Kingsway Hospital in Durban and then transferred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital.
But according to IOL, NICD acting executive director Professor Adrian Puren said, “to date, the B.1.617 variant had not been detected in South Africa and any suspected cases will be investigated”.
This comes as India reported more than 400 000 new cases on Saturday, a global record.
Experts believe that number will climb even higher in the coming days, an unimaginable burden for a health system already under siege, with hospitals issuing pleas for oxygen, The Washington Post report said on Sunday.
Picture: Cape Town etc gallery