President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for calm as the National Covid-19 Council is expected to meet on Monday and advise the state on how to handle the most recent variant of the deadly virus.
Ramaphosa said an announcement related to how SA aimed to respond to the XBB.1.5 variant of the coronavirus discovered by University of Stellenbosch researchers towards the end of last year, would be made later today.
SA reportedly found its first case of the new variant described by scientists as “highly transmissible”.
“There is no need for South Africans to panic, there is no need for people to get concerned," Ramaphosa said on Monday.
“Some people have asked if we are going to have restrictions or lockdowns and all that. Far from that. We just need to be informed about what is happening with this variant and we will be able to impart the information to the rest of the country,” he said.
Ramaphosa said the council expected to get a report from the health minister and from the scientists studying the virus.
“We are watching the situation globally as well to see what is happening in relation to Covid. We have decided that we need to be agile and proactive and look at this rather quickly.”
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