Durban - Covid-19 testing and surveillance of wastewater for detection of cases, including on international flights, is set to increase as the Health Department seeks to respond to the first case of the XBB.1.5 variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Minister of Health Dr Joseph Phaahla yesterday announced that after consulting with the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientists, it was decided that there would be no restrictions or travel ban imposed in the country.
Instead, Phaahla said measures would be put in place to increase Covid-19 testing and to encourage members of the public to get vaccinated and have booster shots.
The move has been welcomed by medical experts who said the actions being taken were appropriate.
Phaahla said that the XBB.1.5 variant, which is being called the Kraken variant internationally, was responsible for an increase in the number of Covid-19-positive cases on the east coast of the US.
“However, I want to stress that the dominant Covid variant remains the Omicron variant, which is responsible for 97 to 98% of infections that we are seeing globally. The XBB.1.5 variant, BF.7 and the BA.5 variants are sub-variants of the Omicron variant that remains dominant.”
Phaala added that the XBB.1.5 variant case in South Africa was detected by researchers at Stellenbosch University.
“The specimen was taken on December 27 and was confirmed last week due to the process of sequencing. We have only confirmed one case of the XBB.1.5 variant. We don’t expect an increase in the number of Covid-19-positive cases due to the population immunity that we have achieved. This means immunity due to the number of people vaccinated and previous infection.”
Phaala said that the Department of Health had been consulting the WHO regarding the new variant.
“We have been advised that there is no need to impose a travel ban or impose any restrictions in South Africa due to the variant.
“We have been advised to increase our rate of testing for Covid-19. An increase in testing will also assist our researchers at Stellenbosch University to conduct genome sequencing and detect more cases of the XBB.1.5 variant. We have also been advised to increase our surveillance, which we will be doing with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) by testing wastewater for Covid-19. We will also be testing wastewater on international flights, which includes countries that are known to have seen an increase in Covid-19-positive cases due to the Omicron sub-variants.”
Phaala said that the Department of Health would be encouraging members of the public to get Covid-19 vaccines and boosters.
“We will be encouraging the age group of 18-49 to get a fourth booster and the age group of over 50 to get a fifth booster. We want to assure members of the public that our vaccines will still protect you against the Omicron sub-variants.”
Head of public health in medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Saloshni Naidoo, said that based on the current available information on the new sub-variant the actions being taken were appropriate.
“There is no evidence of increased hospital admissions or deaths from the new sub-variant. Increasing surveillance at this point in time is sufficient to track what is happening.”
Naidoo added that the current vaccinations used in South Africa also appeared to cover the new sub-variant.
“So if people are vaccinated they should be fine. We need to encourage those who have not been vaccinated to seek vaccination. Those in need of boosters can also have them.”
Professor Nigel Garrett, the head of HIV pathogenesis and vaccine research at the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa and an associate professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said he agreed with the WHO’s guidance on testing, encouraging booster vaccinations and continuing with surveillance of the virus (sequencing) of Covid-19 cases and severe disease and deaths.
“I’m a little concerned that access to vaccines has slowed down (fewer private and public facilities offer the vaccines). We also need a clear plan on how the vulnerable in our population continue to get access to boosters. I agree there is no need for travel bans or shutdowns any more,” he said.