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- The Department of Health has dismissed misleading messages being circulated on social media.
- The messages claim the alleged detection of a new Covid-19 variant of concern.
- According to the department, there was currently no epidemiological evidence that these sublineages will be of substantially greater risk.
The National Department of Health says it has noted a misleading message being circulated on social media platforms and attributed to the Ministry of Health.
The fake messages call for everyone to wear a mask because of the alleged detection of a new Covid-19 variant of concern.
On Saturday, the department dismissed the claims, referring to them as "fake news".
"The department would like to dismiss this as fake news by faceless sources whose sole intention is to create unnecessary panic," department spokesperson Foster Mohale said in a statement.
"The fact of the matter is, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a notification in October this year on the Omicron sublineages BQ.1 and XBB, detected around the world as part of ongoing work to track variants by the Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE).
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"The role of the TAG-VE is to alert WHO if a variant that can cause more severe disease, or lead to large epidemic waves causing increased burden to the healthcare system, is emerging and likely to pose a significant threat."
Mohale added that there was currently no epidemiological evidence that these sublineages will be of substantially greater risk compared to other Omicron sublineages.
The department said it was working with the
National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and scientists to continue
to monitor all Covid-19 lineages.
It urged South Africans to continue to be vigilant as they take part in festive season activities.
"The known [Covid-19] virus variants are still in circulation, and we are not off the hook from the pandemic, hence people are urged to vaccinate and take any booster shots that they qualify for, to enhance their level of immunity," added Mohale.
