(Bloomberg) — Analysis of wastewater samples in South Africa show that there is an increased incidence of Covid-19 in three provinces.
Samples from all wastewater plants in the industrial hub of Gauteng province, in eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal and in Bloemfontein in the Free State, the South African Medical Research Council said in a report on Thursday. Samples in southwest Johannesburg indicated the spread of the newly discovered omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages.
Wastewater analysis is seen as an early indicator of increasing spread of the coronavirus among communities. Scientists have been predicting that a fifth wave of infections with the virus could start in April or May. To date over 100,000 South Africans have officially died from Covid-19, making it the hardest hit country on the continent.
On Wednesday 1,659 new Covid-19 cases were confirmed in South Africa, a fraction of the daily record of more than 26,000 seen in December, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases.
