Health service buckling as third coronavirus wave fuelled by Delta variant sweeps across South Africa

With new cases soaring by 25% President Cyril Ramaphosa warns of massive resurgence of infections

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The health system in Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city, is being overwhelmed by a massive wave of infections driven by the Delta variant, the winter in the southern hemisphere and a faltering vaccine campaign.

The new variant is now dominant in Africa's most developed country, where the official death toll is now more than 60,000, though excess mortality statistics suggest more than 170,000 may have died from Covid.