South Africa has lifted overnight curfew, as officials said that the country may have crossed the peak of its fourth COVID-19 wave.

According to a government statement, Omicron variant is highly transmissible but led to lower hospitalization rates compared to the previous waves. The statement said that there was a small rise in the number of deaths.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a tsunami of infections due to the Delta and Omicron variants that could overwhelm the healthcare systems.

A statement released after a special cabinet meeting in South Africa stated that cases and hospital admission rates related to COVID-19 had declined in almost all provinces in the country. For the week ending December 25, 2021, the confirmed cases were 89,781, compared to 127,753 cases recorded during the previous week… (BBC, December 31, 2021)