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In the few weeks since Omicron was first identified in South Africa, close attention has been paid to the country to see what the impact of this latest Covid variant has been on its population and hospital system.

What was apparent from the start is that it is highly transmissible and much quicker to spread than previous variants - but a number of South African doctors are now saying they think it's generally more mild than others. They say it can still be deadly for some people - but that's not the general experience.

The head of South Africa’s Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee, says that even for people who have low immunity because of HIV or TB or who are unvaccinated, the disease is proving far less severe.

"We haven't seen so far in the community long Covid symptoms. We haven't seen people after 7-12 days, as we see with Delta, getting severely ill. And if you look at our hospital stats, there are not a lot of people in ICU, and that's why yesterday our Minister of Health announced that there will not be any further lockdown restrictions. What is in place is going to stay in place due to the fact that our hospitals are not overrun."

(Photo: A man is vaccinated as part of a vaccination drive in Manenberg, Cape Town. Credit: AFP)

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