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Business Report writes that SA is on the cusp of entering a fifth wave of Covid-19 infections, with economists warning that although new formal lockdown restrictions were not expected, there was a downside risk to economic activity.
Old Mutual Wealth Investment strategist Izal Odendaal noted that there was unlikely to be big risk to the broader economy from the fifth wave, but this was dependent on factors still unknown, such as possible further mutation of virus and the event of the government imposing tighter Covid restrictions, which appeared unlikely at this stage. Odendaal pointed out that so far there had been no big increase in hospitalisations or deaths through the current increase in infections, and the government was unlikely to consider new restrictions unless there was a marked increase in hospitalisations. Absa’s economic research team wrote in a note last week: “It is widely expected that it (the fifth wave) is just a matter of when, not if. We believe that rising Covid-19 cases are a downside risk to economic activity as they tend to hurt confidence, even in the absence of new formal lockdown restrictions.” Discovery Covid-19 Task Team head Dr Ronald Whelan confirmed the country was on the brink of a fifth wave. He pointed out that the government recognised a new wave of Covid when the rate of new infections reached a 30% level of the peak of the previous Covid-19 wave. “We are currently at around 4,500 on a daily basis, but the figure is increasing quickly as we could be in a fifth wave next week or the week thereafter,” he stated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Edward West at Business Report
- Read too, Study finds Covid’s new Omicron sub-lineages can dodge immunity from past infection, at Moneyweb
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page