BRAZZAVILLE: Cases of coronavirus in Africa nearly doubled over a week as omicron spread, but hospitalizations in South Africa, where the new variant was discovered, remain low, the UN said Thursday.
In a weekly online press briefing, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Africa branch said the continent had recorded 107,000 extra cases in the week to Sunday, compared with 55,000 in the previous week.
omicron “is reaching more countries in Africa,” it said, adding that research was being stepped up to see whether the new variant was specifically behind the sharp rise..
The biggest surge in numbers — 140 percent on average — was in the south of the continent.
However, in South Africa, which discovered the new variant last month, “severe cases remain low,” the WHO said in a statement.
“Emerging data from South Africa indicates that omicron may cause less severe illness,” it said.
“Data which looked at hospitalizations across South Africa between 14 November and 4 December found that ICU (intensive care unit) occupancy was only 6.3 percent.
“(This) is very low compared with the same period when the country was facing the peak linked to the Delta variant in July.”
The agency reiterated its objections to travel restrictions, which it said had been issued by more than 70 countries and were overwhelmingly aimed at southern Africa, even though countries in the region had been “transparent with their data.”
It also called on countries to step up vaccinations — only 7.8 percent of the continent’s roughly 1.2 billion people have been jabbed.
The biggest laggards in immunization are Chad, Djibouti and Democratic Republic of Congo.
A new vaccine supply system is being set in place to help African countries distribute them more easily, said Richard Mihigo, WHO Africa’s vaccination program coordinator.
Omicron spreading in Africa but data suggests ‘less severe’: WHO
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Omicron spreading in Africa but data suggests ‘less severe’: WHO
- WHO’s Africa branch said the continent had recorded 107,000 extra cases in the week to Sunday
- Research was being stepped up to see whether the new variant was specifically behind the sharp rise
UK police release ex-envoy Peter Mandelson on bail in Epstein case
LONDON: London police released former ambassador Peter Mandelson on bail in the early hours of Tuesday, in a probe into his ties to disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein, only days after ex-prince Andrew was arrested.
Mandelson, a pivotal figure in British politics and the UK’s former envoy to Washington, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office around 1700 GMT Monday following allegations arising from the latest set of documents linked to Epstein.
“A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation,” the Metropolitan police said in a statement around nine hours after he was taken in to an unnamed London police station.
Images on UK television earlier appeared to show Mandelson, 72, being driven away from his north London home accompanied by a man and a woman, after police raided his properties earlier this month.
The arrest came days after Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, King Charles III’s younger brother, was detained on Thursday and released under investigation in a separate misconduct in public office investigation also related to the latest Epstein documents.
Mandelson is being probed over allegations that he sent sensitive documents to the late US sex offender when he was a government minister, including during the 2008 financial crash.
Police have not specified which documents are part of the probe.
The veteran ex-politician was sacked by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as envoy to Washington in September when an earlier release of documents linked to Epstein showed the extent of their friendship.
But Mandelson’s appointment has unleashed a political storm with two of Starmer’s top aides resigning over the row.
Starmer apologized to Epstein’s victims for appointing Mandelson, and accused the ex-envoy of lying about the extent of his ties to the financier during the vetting process for his Washington posting.
Pressure rising
Law firm Mishcon de Reya, representing Mandelson, said earlier this month that he “regrets, and will regret until his dying day, that he believed Epstein’s lies about his criminality.”
“Lord Mandelson did not discover the truth about Epstein until after his death in 2019,” said the statement.
“He is profoundly sorry that powerless and vulnerable women and girls were not given the protection they deserved.”
The government is to release tens of thousands of emails, messages and documents on Mandelson’s vetting procedure, which could ramp up the pressure on the prime minister and other senior ministers.
Government minister Darren Jones on Monday said the first set of documents relating to Mandelson’s appointment will be published in early March.
Starmer fought off calls to resign earlier this month after he admitted he knew about Mandelson’s ongoing friendship with Epstein — which seemed to continue after the financier was convicted of child prostitution in 2008.
Mandelson, also a former European Union trade commissioner, stood down from parliament’s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, earlier this month.
The advisory firm he co-founded, Global Counsel, also approached bankruptcy last week as it stopped trading and appointed administrations in a bid to salvage some assets.
Several major clients, including Barclays, Tesco and English football’s Premier League, have cut ties with the firm in recent weeks, according to press reports.
Officers from the Met’s specialist crime team were deployed earlier this month to search two of his addresses, one in the western English county of Wiltshire and the other in London, according to the police.
