Omicron cases in the South African ground zero peaked on December 6 but are still rising in the rest of the country.
Three weeks after the start of the wave, cases of the variant reached their highest level in Gauteng, which was first to feel the full force of the variant.
A total of 68,181 tests were conducted in the last 24hrs, according to The National Institute For Communicable Diseases Of South Africa (NICD).
It said there were 20,713 new cases, representing a 30.4 per cent positivity rate.
Charts tracking the rate of Omicron across South Africa show cases are falling in Gauteng, while rising elsewhere.
After reaching a peak of 10,100 per day on December 7 on a seven-day moving average, cases are now around 8,000 per day, according to Louis Rossouw, who has written a scientific paper on the Omicron variant in the country.
A further 35 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported in South Africa, bringing the total fatalities to 90,297.
Three weeks after the start of the wave, cases of the variant reached their highest level in Gauteng, which was first to feel the full force of the variant. This is according to Louis Rossouw, who has written a scientific paper on the Omicron variant in the country
The majority of new cases today are still from Gauteng (28 per cent), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (25 per cent).
Yesterday, the country’s health minister Joe Phaahla revealed 1.7 per cent of Covid cases went on to be hospitalized during the second week of the current wave. For comparison, he said the equivalent figure was 19 per cent in the second week of South Africa’s Delta crisis.
Higher immunity levels due to vaccination and previous infection now than when Delta took off are thought to be behind the lower hospitalization rate.
But Phaahla suggested Omicron may have evolved to be milder, bolstering claims made by doctors treating patients on the frontline.
Public health official Wassila Jassat, who also attended the conference, said South Africa had fewer patients needing oxygen now than when Delta emerged. She added that patients were hospitalized for a shorter period.
It is the latest glimmer of hope for the US that Omicron may be milder than first feared.
Phaahla did not present an analysis to back up his suggestion that a lower proportion of patients were being hospitalized now than when Delta took off.
But two-thirds more swabs were being carried out every day at this point during the Omicron wave than for Delta which may have skewed the analysis.
A further 35 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing the total fatalities to 90,297
Hospitalisations in the country fell 23.4 per cent in a week today after another 374 people were admitted. But this could also be down to the holiday, with fewer people available to process data
Daily Covid cases in South Africa have risen 10 per cent in a week today. But the country is currently enjoying a public holiday, which likely skewed the figures
Data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases showed that less than two per cent of patients were being hospitalized in the second week of the Omicron wave in South Africa. For comparison, when the Delta wave struck it was 12 per cent
Officials figures show some 54,800 tests were carried out every day in the second week of the current wave, compared to 32,600 in the second week of the Delta wave.
Omicron was first detected in South Africa on November 25, and Delta was first detected on May 8.
Its cases rocketed when Omicron first struck the country, and earlier this week reached a record high of almost 26,000 infections reported in a single day. On Thursday they rose 10 per cent week-on-week after another 24,700 were recorded.
Hospitalizations in the country also dipped on Thursday compared to the same time last week, but they are trending upwards to about 600 admissions a day from less than 100 before Omicron emerged.
But they are still below hospitalizations during the country’s second wave, which surged above 700 a day.
Doctors on the frontlines say that fewer patients need to be admitted to ICU or receive oxygen than when Delta took off, suggesting it may be more mild.
Phaahla told the conference: ‘We believe that [the reduced severity] might not necessarily just be that Omicron is less virulent.’