FILE PHOTO: A health worker looks on as she waits to give a dose of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine during a vaccine rollout for teachers in Meyerton, south of Johannesburg, South Africa June 23, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo
JOHANNESBURG — The Delta coronavirus variant, first identified in India, appears to be dominating new infections in South Africa, local scientists told a news conference on Saturday.
South Africa is the worst-hit country on the African continent in terms of confirmed COVID-19 infections and deaths.
It is in the middle of a “third wave” of infections, recording more than 18,000 new cases on Friday.
Acting health minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane told the same news conference that it was now likely that the peak of the third wave would surpass the peak of the second wave in January.