News24 reports that in its weekly wastewater surveillance report released on Friday, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said an increase in respect of the week ending 23 August of Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2) in certain wastewater treatment facilities might indicate an impending wave.
It reported that the increases were being seen in Daspoort in Tshwane, Goudkoppies in Johannesburg, Hartebeesfontein in Ekurhuleni, Sterkwater in Bloemfontein and the central wastewater plant in eThekwini. "These facilities will be closely monitored. The Omicron variant and its sublineages are present in wastewater across the Gauteng province,” the NICD said. Progressive Health Forum convener Dr Aslam Dasoo said although the picture was still unclear, a potential resurgence might be in the offing as early as October. He indicated that the next wave was likely to be no worse than the fifth, because no new variant of significance had been identified. “Things will become clearer over the next two or three weeks, but there is no cause for alarm and certainly no need for any new restrictions at this stage. The most important thing for the government to do is to maintain the robust surveillance by the Medical Research Council and the NICD and to redouble its vaccination rollout, especially focused on the over-50s," said Dasoo.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Lisalee Solomons at News24
- Lees ook, Ál meer tekens van naderende virusvlaag, by Maroela Media
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