REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
A health worker walks past tents erected for Covid-19 patients at the parking lot of the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, South Africa, Jan. 11, 2021.
January 13, 2021
The coronavirus pandemic in South Africa has reached a record new level driven by the more infectious novel Covid-19 variant the 501Y.V2 discovered in the country on Dec. 19 and now set to be the dominant variant, according to local scientists.
South Africa is the hardest-hit African country by Covid-19 with over 1.26 million cases and over 34,000 deaths. It now has highest daily infections, hospital admissions, and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in the country last year and local hospitals are being overwhelmed.