*South African Government urges tighter Coronavirus restrictions to curtail the spread, which health experts say is 鈥榟ighly transmissible鈥�

*Business groups kick, saying the further tightening of lockdown restraints would hurt the country鈥檚 economic recovery

Alexander Davis | 绿帽献妻

As the Delta variant of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic reportedly spreads like wildfire, Mrs. Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, South Africa鈥檚 Acting Health Minister, has disclosed that the virus variant is dominant in the country, fuelling a third wave of infections that may prompt the government again, to tighten lockdown restrictions further.

绿帽献妻 reports Mrs. Kubayi-Ngubane, who stated this in an online press conference Saturday, June 26, 2021, said that the current resurgence of the disease could be worse than the second wave after studies discovered the prevalence of the new strain first detected in India.

The Acting Health Minister noted the new variant is driving infections in South Africa鈥檚 commercial hub of Gauteng in the Southern African country.

The Minister declared: 鈥淲e have a new variant that is prevalent in the country. This new variant is called Delta.鈥�

Richard Lessells, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, sat the same media briefing, stated that the Delta variant that鈥檚 been running rampant in South Africa is 30% to 60% more transmissible than other strains, including the Beta variant, first identified in the African nation last year.

Lessels said: 鈥淧reliminary estimates from genomic data and epidemiological studies suggest Delta may be significantly more transmissible than other variants of concern, including Beta.鈥�

According to the authorities, the strict lockdown measures initially imposed in South Africa helped it get through its first two waves of the Coronavirus without major hospitals having to turn people away.

However, it was learnt that a comparatively slow vaccination rollout 聽in the country means only about 4% of the population have received any COVID-19 Vaccine jabs, just as the arrival of mid-winter leads more people to gather indoors.

Accordingly, Koleka Mlisana, Head of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19, said the rise in infections meant the government needed to urgently consider tightening lockdown restrictions including on movement of people in South Africa.

Mlisana noted: 鈥淲e are going to make sure that we get onto hard restrictions, tighter restrictions because obviously what actually increases transmissions is person-to-person.

鈥淚t鈥檚 going to mean we need to be very decisive.鈥�

Meanwhile, as the South African mulls stricter measures in order to curb the spread of the Elta variant of COVID-19, business groups an organisation have kicked against the move.

Business people in a report stated that South Africa鈥檚 businesses say the further tightening of lockdown restrictions would hurt the economic recovery, Sunday Times report said.

Martin Kingston, Vice President of Business Unity South Africa, the country鈥檚 biggest business grouping, also said in the report, that further measures to curb the spread of the Coronavirus would need to take into account the impact on the country鈥檚 still-fragile growth,

South Africa can鈥檛 afford a complete shutdown, Kingston said.

He also noted: 鈥淭here are significant impacts in terms of reduction in gross domestic product if we go through level 3 to level 4 restrictions.

鈥淭here is obviously scope for higher levels of intervention, but that would also have a potentially meaningful impact upon economic activity.鈥�

President Cyril Ramaphosa is due to address the country Sunday evening on government plans to check Covid-19 infections, report said.

The country, which initially imposed a strict lockdown, is seeking to prevent a third wave of cases fueled by the more contagious Delta variant, Kubayi-Ngubane said Saturday.