Omicron spread doubles COVID cases in South Africa

The Omicron variant has driven a sharp increase in COVID cases in South Africa, according to health officials.

Over 8,000 new cases were registered in the past 24 hours in South Africa, double than yesterday’s number. The WHO has called the variant to be “of concern” because of its high transmissibility.

South Africa was the first country to detect the variant that is said to have originated from Botswana. Over two dozen countries have since reported cases of the Omicron variant, and enforced travel bans on Southern Africa.

Israel implemented a complete travel ban for all foreigners, and the UK enforced mask mandates, while Netherlands enforced a partial lockdown after banning travel from the region.

The US and Canada, so far like most of Europe and scores of other countries have only enforced travel bans on Southern African countries.

As studies are being conducted to determine whether Omicron does indeed make vaccines ineffective, countries are taking measures to stop its rapid spread while preparing for the worst.

If the variant does increase the transmission rate, then we will indeed see lockdowns once again. They might be enforced before Christmas if the spread picks up pace.

Some countries are now even thinking of making COVID vaccines mandatory, and we may also see vaccine mandates coupled with the lockdowns.