South African Covid cases up 255% in a week as Omicron spreads

Private healthcare provider says symptoms in country's fourth wave are far milder than in previous waves

• Coronavirus - latest updates

Covid cases in South Africa have surged by 255% in the past seven days but there is mounting anecdotal evidence that infections with the Omicron variant are provoking milder symptoms than in previous waves.

According to a South African private healthcare provider, the recent rise in infections - which includes the Omicron and Delta variants - has been accompanied by a much smaller increase in admissions to intensive care beds, echoing an earlier report from the country's National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD).