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JOHANNESBURG, December 27 (Reuters) – The total coronavirus infections in South Africa since the first case in March exceeded one million on Sunday, the Ministry of Health said just days after it was confirmed that a new, faster-spreading variant in the country is present.
The gloomy milestone comes nine days after the country, the worst hit in Africa, reported 900,000 cases. The country took two weeks to reach 900,000 of the 800,000 seen in early December.
Several hospitals and medical centers have reported that wards are overcrowded with patients with many health workers canceling their holidays to accommodate a large influx of patients.
Mediclinic International Plc, one of the top three private hospital networks in the country, said Sunday that a severe increase in cases has put the available health care resources, including staff, equipment and beds, very seriously under pressure to treat seriously ill patients.
“The number of patients cared for in our hospitals exceeded the previous number during the first peak, and the majority of our ICU and High Care units operate on capacity,” the company said, referring to the Western Cape province.
The new variant, called 501.V2, was discovered by a network of scientists across South Africa who monitored the genetics of the virus. The variant appears to be focused in the south and southeast of the country and is dominating findings from samples collected since October, they say.
The Coronavirus Command Council, the largest government body monitoring the disease, met on Sunday to decide whether to introduce further measures such as a stricter closure or stricter rules for public movement, according to local media News24.
“Today we have violated a million cumulative cases of COVID-19 in South Africa, with a cumulative total of 1 004 413 cases,” the ministry said in a statement late Sunday.
The total number of deaths affected 26,735.
Click on tmsnrt.rs/2Kx1cMO for an interactive image
The number of daily increases in infections had already crossed the July high when cases fell to just 14,000. Daily infections on December 25 were the highest so far with 14,796 cases.
Since the new variant was announced, several countries canceled flights to the country, which toppled the already bruised travel and tourism sector.
Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Edited by Alison Williams