Covid-19 South Africa Variant

Lions and pumas at a zoo in South African capital of Pretoria got severe Covid-19 from asymptomatic zoo handlers, raising concerns that new variants could emerge from animal reservoirs of the disease, studies carried out by a local university showed.

The first Test between India and South Africa starting at Centurion on December 26 will be played without spectators as the host country's cricket board is not selling tickets in view of the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, according to a report.

South Africa vs India: According to reports, Cricket South Africa have put in place some strict norms for the bio-secure environment in coordination with the BCCI.

A two-dose course of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE's Covid-19 shot as well as a previous infection with the disease may give stronger protection against the omicron variant, scientists from the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa said.

Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appear to have given 70 per cent protection against hospitalisation in South Africa in recent weeks, according to a major real-world study which suggests weaker efficacy against the new Omicron variant.

South Africa should boost the provision of antiretroviral drugs for millions of people infected with HIV to potentially reduce the chance of new Covid-19 variants to emerge, scientists said.

Pfizer Inc.'s vaccine provides less immunity to the omicron variant than to other major versions of Covid-19, according to laboratory experiments that still indicated a third dose may help stop the highly mutated strain.

South Africa's surge in Covid-19 cases following the emergence of the omicron variant hasn't overwhelmed hospitals so far, prompting some cautious optimism that the new strain may cause mostly mild illness.

South Africa's fourth COVID-19 wave was anticipated and the emergence of the new Omicron variant was inevitable, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said, terming the surge in infections a matter of "great concern".

South Africa is preparing its hospitals for more admissions, as the Omicron coronavirus variant pushes the country into a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.

Initial data from a major hospital complex in South Africa's omicron epicenter show that while Covid-19 case numbers have surged, patients need less medical intervention.

A 33-year-old man from Maharashtra who travelled to Mumbai from South Africa via Dubai and Delhi late last month has tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, in the fourth such case confirmed in India.

India's tour of South Africa will go ahead "as originally scheduled" despite concerns over a new COVID-19 variant, Cricket South Africa confirmed through a press release on Saturday.

South Africa's Covid-19 infections surged to a record three million on Friday as a new wave driven by the Omicron variant rips through parts of the country, official figures showed.

Nine members of a family in Jaipur tested positive for COVID-19, days after four of them returned from South Africa, putting the Health Department on alert amid concerns over the "Omicron" variant of the infection.

Lions and pumas at a zoo in South African capital of Pretoria got severe Covid-19 from asymptomatic zoo handlers, raising concerns that new variants could emerge from animal reservoirs of the disease, studies carried out by a local university showed.

The first Test between India and South Africa starting at Centurion on December 26 will be played without spectators as the host country's cricket board is not selling tickets in view of the emergence of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, according to a report.

South Africa vs India: According to reports, Cricket South Africa have put in place some strict norms for the bio-secure environment in coordination with the BCCI.

A two-dose course of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE's Covid-19 shot as well as a previous infection with the disease may give stronger protection against the omicron variant, scientists from the Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa said.

Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine appear to have given 70 per cent protection against hospitalisation in South Africa in recent weeks, according to a major real-world study which suggests weaker efficacy against the new Omicron variant.

South Africa should boost the provision of antiretroviral drugs for millions of people infected with HIV to potentially reduce the chance of new Covid-19 variants to emerge, scientists said.

Pfizer Inc.'s vaccine provides less immunity to the omicron variant than to other major versions of Covid-19, according to laboratory experiments that still indicated a third dose may help stop the highly mutated strain.

South Africa's surge in Covid-19 cases following the emergence of the omicron variant hasn't overwhelmed hospitals so far, prompting some cautious optimism that the new strain may cause mostly mild illness.

South Africa's fourth COVID-19 wave was anticipated and the emergence of the new Omicron variant was inevitable, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said, terming the surge in infections a matter of "great concern".

South Africa is preparing its hospitals for more admissions, as the Omicron coronavirus variant pushes the country into a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.

Initial data from a major hospital complex in South Africa's omicron epicenter show that while Covid-19 case numbers have surged, patients need less medical intervention.

A 33-year-old man from Maharashtra who travelled to Mumbai from South Africa via Dubai and Delhi late last month has tested positive for the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, in the fourth such case confirmed in India.

India's tour of South Africa will go ahead "as originally scheduled" despite concerns over a new COVID-19 variant, Cricket South Africa confirmed through a press release on Saturday.

South Africa's Covid-19 infections surged to a record three million on Friday as a new wave driven by the Omicron variant rips through parts of the country, official figures showed.

Nine members of a family in Jaipur tested positive for COVID-19, days after four of them returned from South Africa, putting the Health Department on alert amid concerns over the "Omicron" variant of the infection.