S African Prez Cyril Ramaphosa contracts COVID-19 as infections reach record high
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is receiving treatment for mild COVID-19 symptoms after testing positive for the viral infection, his office said on Sunday.
President Ramaphosa contracted COVID-19 infection on a day when the country recorded a new high of 37,875 new infections overnight, dramatically up from the previous days 17,154 new cases.
The President started feeling unwell after leaving the State Memorial Service in honour of former Deputy President FW de Klerk in Cape Town earlier today.
The President is in good spirits but is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service of the South African National Defence Force, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said in astatement.
Gungubele said the President, who is fully vaccinated, is inself-isolation in Cape Town and has delegated all responsibilities toDeputy President David Mabuza for the next week.
President Ramaphosa and the South African delegation were tested for COVID-19 in all of the four West African countries that he visited over the past week. They also tested negative upon their return toSouth Africa on Wednesday.
President Ramaphosa says his own infection serves as a caution to all people in the country to be vaccinated and remain vigilant againstexposure, Gungubele said.
Although all health regulations pertaining to hand hygiene, thewearing of face masks and social distancing were observed at thememorial service, people who were in contact with Ramaphosa on Sunday have been advised to watch for symptoms or to have themselves tested for the Covid infection.
Ramaphosa was expected to be briefed by the Corona Command Council later this week amid the exponentially soaring infections in afourth wave across the country which largely being driven by theOmicron variant, first detected in South Africa three weeks ago.
It is still unclear whether Mabuza will continue with these meetings, which analysts have been expecting to result in a possible increase in the lockdown regulations from the current lowest Level One of a five-level lockdown strategy.
Experts have called for serious action, especially on gatherings, as millions of people head for coastal cities and traditional familygatherings in their ancestral homes for the holiday period starting onThursday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)