The latest number of coronavirus cases in South Africa indicates that the epicentre of the recent outbreak, fuelled by the Omicron variant, could have reached its peak.
Gauteng province, where the first cases of the variant were discovered, reported 3,582 new cases in the past 24 hours. This was down from 7,488 at the same time last week, according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
The highest number of infections on Sunday - 4,135 - was in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, with its popular coastal holiday destinations, up from 2,974 last week.
Despite the country being in its fourth wave and the lightning speed with which the Omicron variant has been spreading, the government has kept restrictions at their lowest level.
It has also been reported that admissions to hospitals are less than they were during the country's third wave, which was fuelled by the Delta variant.
Waasila Jassat of the NICD said last week that the length of hospital stays for Covid patients also decreased drastically compared to previous waves of infections - falling from up to 10 days in the third wave to less than half that.
Nevertheless, it is still too early to draw scientifically sound conclusions.
In other countries across the world, Omicron is spreading substantially, prompting countries such as France and the Netherlands to institute much stronger restrictions.
