Times Of Swaziland: NEW VARIANT COULD BE ALREADY HERE - MINISTER

NEW VARIANT COULD BE ALREADY HERE - MINISTER
================================================================================
Nonduduzo Kunene on 11/01/2023 08:47:00


MBABANE - The new sub-variant of Omicron might be circulating in the country due
to the kingdom’s proximity to South Africa.
This was revealed by the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, in a press statement
on Monday. The minister stated that the new sub-variant of Omicron was a variant
of COVID-19. Nkosi said at the time of issuing the statement, there was no
evidence that the XBB sub-variant was circulating in the country. However, due
to the country’s proximity to South Africa, which confirmed a case of the
variant on Saturday, she said the variant could possibly be circulating in
Eswatini. She said they were monitoring the circulation through countless
genomic sequencing conducted through local samples. Nkosi said emaSwati should
remain calm as evidence indicated that the variant was not deadly.
Allay
“The Ministry of Health would like to allay anxiety within the public
concerning the COVID-19 Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5, which has recently been
reported in a case in South Africa. There is no evidence that this variant is
circulating in Eswatini. However, this is a possibility as a result of the
country’s proximity to South Africa and this is being monitored through
genomic sequencing of local samples,” she said. Nkosi said the sub-variant had
been reported in over 70 countries, including the USA, Australia and some
countries in Europe. She explained that the sub-variant was found to be more
transmissible than the original Omicron variant, however, there was no evidence
that it caused severe illness such as the situation observed during the Delta
variant wave.
The minister stated that vaccines were still the best tool to protect people
from severe illness and hospitalisation after being infected with COVID-19 that
had the sub-variant. “Although vaccinated people may get infected with this
sub-variant, existing COVID-19 vaccines are still effective in protecting one
from severe illness and hospitalisation. There are no reports of new or unusual
symptoms observed yet from this sub-variant,” she said. Further, Nkosi said
the World Health Organisation (WHO), US Centre of Disease Control (CDC) and the
National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa were
analysing the risk and conducting genomic sequencing to understand better the
behaviour of this sub-variant. The Ministry of Health will be receiving updates
on the XBB.1.5 sub-variant and inform the nation as necessary, she added.
The minister assured emaSwati that the country never stopped monitoring the
virus. She said the ministry continued to conduct surveillance of COVID-19 and
other public health threats, thus releasing the weekly COVID-19 statement to the
public through the media and government social platforms.
Testing
“Surveillance teams are conducting testing for COVID-19 and also tracing
contacts as per the response guidelines. The ministry uses this data to plan for
the escalation of the response once this is warranted according to the set
thresholds,” she said. The minister said COVID-19 vaccines in the country were
available in abundance. The country still administers the AstraZeneca and Pfizer
vaccines. She urged emaSwati to get vaccinated and those who were vaccinated
were urged to take booster shots in order to boost their immunity. On the week
ended January 8, 2023, the country recorded 19 cases of COVID-19.
The cases were an increase from 13 cases that were reported on the week ended
January 1, 2023. To date, 74 053 people in the country contracted COVID-19 while
72 603 recovered from the virus. According to the COVID-19 weekly update that
was released on Sunday, the country had zero COVID-19 admissions while 28 people
were under home treatment.