(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.
More than 60% of the 62,414 tests conducted came back positive in the 24 hours covered by Sunday’s data.
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.
The figures also reduce the chance that more than 90 nations that banned travel to and from South Africa will lift the restrictions. PwC estimates the bans could cost the country as much as 6.5 billion rand ($407 million) in potential foreign revenue, placing pressure on growth in the fourth quarter.
Most of the infections with the variant have been in Gauteng, the province where Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, are located. It recorded 44% of the new cases, followed by KwaZulu-Natal at 16% and North West tallying 6%.
South Africa’s official death toll of over 90,000 and almost 3.2 million cases make it the country hardest hit by the virus in Africa, although testing and accurate recording of the causes of fatalities is weak across much of the continent. A number of its neighbors, including Zimbabwe, are also in the grip of a fourth wave of coronavirus infections and vaccine rollouts are slow.
(Updates with test positivity rate starting in third paragraph)
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