Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla says it is not yet clear why babies under the age of one are at risk of severe infection driven by the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
Giving an update on the rise in COVID-19 infections in the country on Friday morning, Phaahla said there was no need to panic just yet.
“Despite making up 30% of the population, the younger people comprise only 12% of cases and 5% of hospital admissions. However, the children who are at risk of severe disease are those under 1-year and people with other comorbidities. For children who are premature and who have diabetes, cancer, HIV and TB,” adds Phaahla.
Video| Health Ministry media briefing on COVID-19 in S
Meanwhile, Gauteng has continued to lead the pack in the number of COVID-19 infections since the country entered the fourth wave of the pandemic.
The province is currently sitting at 53% of viral infections.
On Thursday, 22 391 cases have been reported in the country.
The deadly virus has claimed over 90 000 lives in South Africa since March last year.
Phaahla says most of the patients admitted to health facilities during this cycle are not vaccinated.
He has told the media that weekly cases in Gauteng have increased by a staggering 400%.
“The weekly cases in Gauteng province have increased by more than 400% for the week of December 4, compared to the previous week and admissions by 200%. Now the recent genomic sequencing by our teams reveals that Omicron was dominant among sequence samples during December 2021 up to 70% of those specimen showed Omicron that’s as of yesterday [Thursday],” he explains.
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-Additional reporting by Phanuel Shuma
