South Africa lifts curfew as Omicron wave subsides

Time for a jab: South Africa has the highest Covid numbers of any country on the continent

South Africa, where the Omicron variant was detected last month, says its latest coronavirus wave has peaked without a surge in deaths or hospitalisations, enabling the country to lift a nightly curfew for the first time in 21 months.

The Omicron variant emerged in November to become pandemic's dominant variant, driving new cases at a record rate around the world.

"Based on the experts, the conditions do allow that we lift the curfew," he told a news conference, spelling out a move that the presidency announced the previous evening.

Many countries outside Africa are tightening restrictions to battle a surge in infections.

Gungubele said the government of Africa's most advanced but battered economy took the action to try "balance between livelihoods and saving lives."

- Omicron hopes -

But mounting evidence in South Africa and elsewhere has fuelled hopes that Omicron, while more contagious than other strains, may also be less severe.

Even so, the risk of increased infections "remains high," the presidency warned in its Thursday night statement.

The government has continued to stress the need for caution and vaccination.

- Little rise in deaths -

"This means that the country has a spare capacity for admission of patients even for routine health services."

It quickly became the dominant strain in South Africa, causing an explosion of infections with a peak of about 26,000 daily cases recorded by mid-December, according to official statistics.

It can also infect vaccinated people as well as those who have already had coronavirus, although such individuals are also far less at risk of falling severely ill.

"The speed with which the Omicron-driven fourth wave rose, peaked and then declined has been staggering. Peak in four weeks and precipitous decline in another two," Fareed Abdullah of the South African Medical Research Council posted on Twitter.

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