BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– Calling for calm!
Minister of Health Lizzie Nkosi has called for calm, saying the Ministry of Health would like to allay anxiety within the public concerning the COVID-19 Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.5, which has recently been reported in a case in South Africa.
She said this in a statement which was sent out today where the Ministry of Health was addressing the emergence of COVID-19 Omicron Sub-Variant XBB.1.5.
“The sub-variant has already been reported in over 70 countries, including the USA, Australia and some countries in Europe. There is no evidence that this variant is circulating in Eswatini. However, there is a possibility as a result of the country’s proximity to South Africa and this is being monitored through genomic sequencing of local samples.
“The sub-variant has been found to be more transmissible than the original Omicron variant, however there is no evidence that it causes severe illness such as the situation observed during the Delta variant wave. Although vaccinated people may get infected with this sub-variant, existing COVID-19 vaccines are still effective in protecting one from severe illness and hospitalisation. There are no reports of new or unusual symptoms observed yet from this sub-variant,” explained the minister.
She further revealed that they were working with the World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. CDC and the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa are analysing the risk and conducting genomic sequencing to understand better the behaviour of this sub-variant.
“The Ministry of Health will be receiving updates on the XBB.1.5 sub-variant and inform the Nation as necessary,” said the minister.
The Minister of Health also said the ministry has continued to conduct surveillance of COVID-19 and other public health threats, thus releasing the weekly COVID-19 statement to the public through the media and Government of Eswatini social platforms.
“Surveillance teams are conducting testing for COVID-19 and also tracing contacts as per the response guidelines. The Ministry uses this data to plan for escalation of the response once this is warranted according to the set thresholds.
“COVID-19 vaccines are available in abundance, thus the nation is urged to vaccinate as soon as possible and those vaccinated should take the booster dose.”
