While you were asleep: Delta vs omicron: Time for world to take SA’s lesson on data sharing and collaboration to help end Covid?

While the world battles to contain the spread of the Covid-19 omicron variant, there seems to be no panic in South Africa, the first country to have alerted the world at the beginning on last month to the new strain. The world’s reaction to shut us out may have been a blessing in disguise as Covid case numbers at home have dropped by 38% in a week as the omicron wave appears to burn itself out.

In stark contrast to South Africa’s swift reaction to decode the heavily mutated omicron and publicise its existence, India waited three months before going public with details of the more transmissible delta variant. Instead of acting at the start of the year, the world watched the nightmarish scenes playing out in Amravati and despite those first, ominous signs of a deadly, destructive strain, what followed goes some ways toward explaining why two years into this pandemic, the world remains on the brink of economy-shattering shutdowns, reports Bloomberg.

The actions India did — and didn’t take — as delta emerged, ultimately saddled its people and the world with a ruthlessly virulent incarnation of the coronavirus, one that challenged vaccines and containment regimes like none before it. It’s been the most dominant form of Covid for much of this year, when more than 3.5 million people died of the virus — almost double the toll during the first year of the pandemic, reads the in-depth Bloomberg report.

Back home, our scientists are tirelessly studying and publicising their Covid findings, with their latest discovery suggesting that infection with the omicron variant can also strengthen immunity against the delta strain, reducing the risk of severe disease. Where delta ripped through the country in July and August, leading to record hospitalisation figures, omicron hasn’t yet had such an impact on health services.

We weren’t caught with our pants down, Salim Abdool Karim, epidemiologist and government advisor on infectious diseases said last month. “We expected and we were ready for a new variant,” he told Bloomberg.

According to Bloomberg more than 80% of the 6.5 million SARS-CoV-2 genomes that have been decoded and then uploaded to GISAID, the international database that tracks changes in the virus, have come from Europe and North America. The US also reported omicron cases much later than other countries, even though officials said the new variant was likely already in the country.

Given the way southern Africa was treated when news of omicron emerged — with travel curbs levied from the US to Japan — there may also be limited political appetite to remedy that disparity, says Bloomberg. Isn’t it time for the world to take a leaf out of our books on data sharing and collaboration so that we can fight and end Covid together?

By the way, the US has announced an end to travel bans on southern African nations. Israel? This nation has removed Zimbabwe and Lesotho from its red list – but not South Africa.

In the markets, the rand opened trading a touch softer after losing 1.45% to close at R15.76 against the US dollar in a reasonably illiquid previous session. “A break above the R15.85-level could open the way for a move back to the R15.95/R16.00 area,” cautions TreasuryONE.

Metals prices also gave up their gains, with palladium trading back under $2,000/oz at $1,950, with gold last changing hands at $1,805 and platinum at $971. Oil, however, has boiled over $79 a barrel on an improving demand outlook.

Here’s a roundup of the world’s top and most interesting headlines:

SA Business

Take that, Shell! Locals hail victory over ‘bullies’ after court halts Wild Coast blasting – Daily Maverick
Pick n Pay customer data exposed online – MyBroadband
Buying a repossessed home in South Africa – what you need to know – BusinessTech

Global Business

Happy new year? Five economic flashpoints to beware in 2022 – The Guardian
Turkish crisis turns books into vanishing luxuries – AFP
A DoorDash employee making $400K a year complained about a company-wide initiative requiring that he personally make one delivery a month – Business Insider

Markets

Oil edges higher as US crude inventories decline – Investing.com
Bitcoin slide deepens, extending worst monthly selloff since May – Bloomberg
Stock markets rise on ‘Santa Claus rally’, omicron optimism – AFP

Tech

The metaverse wins Christmas as Meta’s Oculus VR app is the most downloaded on Apple Store – Euronews
The life and career of Oracle’s Larry Ellison, who went from college drop-out to jet-setting playboy and 7th-richest person in the world – Business Insider
Mark Zuckerberg adds 110 acres to controversial 1,500-acre Hawaii estate – The Guardian

Opinion/In-depth

EXPLAINER | How South America went from being battered by Covid-19 to leading global vaccinations race – News24
Notes on a great man: This strife-torn world would be better if we heeded Desmond Tutu’s words more seriously – Daily Maverick
What South Africa’s COVID alcohol restrictions point to for future policy – The Conversation

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