South Africa has record 37 875 daily Covid cases amid Omicron

12th December 2021 By: Bloomberg

South Africa’s daily coronavirus cases soared to a record as a fourth wave of infections fueled by the omicron variant rips through the nation.

Daily new cases were 37 875 on Sunday, data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases show. That’s the highest number of daily infections yet and exceeds the previous record of 26 485 set during the peak of the third wave on July. 3.

The record comes as the nation’s economy contracted more than expected in the third quarter and the unemployment rate surged to a new high of 34.9%. That will make it difficult for President Cyril Ramaphosa to place the country on a stricter form of lockdown when his meets with his cabinet to discuss the issue.