Ramaphosa satisfied with NCCC 'no panic' advice on latest Covid-19 variant

The National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) has advised President Cyril Ramaphosa that there is no need for compulsory protective measures against the new highly transmissible XBB.1.5 variant.

“The president was satisfied that at this stage there is no need for panic and the discovery is in the course of ongoing research our scientists are conducting around the pandemic,” said presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.

Briefing media at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Thursday, Magwenya confirmed a NCCC meeting was held on Tuesday after South Africa identified its first case of the new variant at the weekend.

“The NCCC meeting happened on Tuesday where the president was brought up to speed with regards to the recent discovery of this variant of concern.

“Though this variant is present in a number of countries, this was more specific to its existence in South Africa. As things stand, there are no concerns with regards to the rapid spread of the pandemic.

“Those who have been vaccinated are encouraged to get their booster shots and those who feel they will better protect themselves by wearing masks can also do so. But, at the moment, that does not fall under compulsory measures.”

The NCCC, which was established in March 2020 in response to the pandemic, consists of cabinet ministers and other stakeholders.  

When government lifted the national state of disaster in April 2022 Ramaphosa announced the council would continue to meet.

TimesLIVE quoted Maria van Kerkhove, Covid-19 technical lead at the World Health Organisation, as having referred to the XBB.1.5 as “the most transmissible subvariant” detected so far.

TimesLIVE