The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, has said that hospital admissions in the country are not increasing, despite a surge in active COVID-19 cases triggered by the new Omicron variant.

The President criticized the countries that have imposed travel bans on South Africa and several other African states after the new Omicron variant was detected in the country. He said that hospital admissions are not increasing at an alarming rate which means that people who may be testing positive for COVID-19 are not being admitted to hospitals in huge numbers.

The country’s Health Minister, Joe Phaahla, also said that people should not worry as the new variant is more transmissible but appears to cause milder illness, as evident from the hospital admissions.

Since the new variant was identified in South Africa at the end of last month, active COVID-19 cases increased from 19,302 to more than 75,000… (Mint, December 5, 2021)