PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday, while it is not yet known what impact the Omicron variant will have on hospital admissions, government has been preparing hospitals to admit more patients.
He said government is also investigating how it can quickly secure medication for treating Covid-19.
The Omicron variant that was brought to global attention by South African scientists nearly two weeks ago appears to be dominating new infections in most provinces.
Ramaphosa said scientists in the country and around the world are still hard at work to answer critical questions about the new Omicron variant, such as its transmissibility, its progression, whether it causes more severe disease and how effective vaccines will be against it.
“In the coming days and weeks we will know more about the Omicron variant. At the same time, we are keeping a close eye on the rates of infection and hospitalisation,” he said.
He
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