South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is in isolation having tested positive for COVID19.
His presidential duties are being carried out by Deputy President David Mabuza.
Ramaphosa, who is fully vaccinated against COVID, felt unwell after attending and speaking at the memorial service for the late former President F.W. de Klerk on Sunday.
All the guests who attended that service and made contact with Ramaphosa are urged to self-isolate.
They include De Klerk’s widow Elita who sat next to the President during the service.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said Ramaphosa was in good spirits and was received specialist care from military doctors.
“I am not a doctor, so I cannot speculate on how long he will be out of action,” said Gungubele.
Ramaphosa returned last week from a four-nation African diplomatic safari to Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Senegal.
In the latter, he participated in the the Forum for China -Africa Cooperation attended by President Xi Jinping.
Dancing unmasked
He was pictured dancing on the African visit without wearing a mask.
Pressing concern at the exponential increase in COVID 19 cases following the discovery of the new omicron variety in South Africa brought Ramaphosa home without attending the democracy summit in Washington where African leaders were hosted by President Joe Biden.
Ramaphosa summoned an urgent meeting of the National Coronavirus Command Council that determines what action to take in response to spikes in infections.
The death toll from the virus in South Africans exceeds 90,000 and the new omicron variant is present in all nine provinces.
There have been 18,035 new infections recorded in the past 24 hours. 16,716 of these are in the heartland Gauteng province that includes the commercial capital Johannesburg and the administrative capital Pretoria.
There are initial indications that although it is the most infectious variant recorded since the start of the pandemic in 2019, omicron’s clinical impact is less severe.
Scientists warn that it too early to be sure of this.
Tightened Covid Restrictions
As South Africa goes into its annual summer holiday, the infection rate among the population that has a vaccination rate approaching 43% is expected to rise.
There is mounting speculation authorities will have to tighten COVID restrictions to reduce that infection rate.
This will jar with Ramaphosa’s angry response to South African and its neighbours being subjected to travel bans in Europe, Britain,North America and even some African countries following discovery of the omicron variety.
However, authorities may have no choice.
If the decision is revealed in the next few days, it will be Mabuza and not the ailing Ramaphosa who has to make the unpopular announcement.
