South African President Cyril Ramaphosa tested positive for
Covid-19 and is receiving treatment for mild symptoms.
“The
president, who is fully vaccinated, is in self-isolation in Cape Town and has
delegated all responsibilities to Deputy President David Mabuza for the next
week,” the presidency said in a statement on Sunday. “The president is in good
spirits but is being monitored by the South African Military Health Service of
the South African National Defence Force.”
Ramaphosa,
69, was vaccinated against coronavirus with the single-dose Johnson &
Johnson inoculation in February. The presidency didn’t immediately respond to a
request for comment on whether he has received a booster shot.
South
Africa is in the midst of a fourth wave of coronavirus infections fuelled by
the omicron variant. Health authorities on Sunday recorded 18 035 new cases of
the illness that has killed more than 90 000 people in the country.
The
president this month traveled to West Africa, where he held talks with Nigerian
President Muhammadu Buhari, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, Ivory Coast
President Alassane Ouattara and Senegalese President Macky Sall. Ramaphosa was
tested for Covid-19 in all of the countries he visited, and returned to South
Africa on December 8 after obtaining negative test results, the presidency
said.
“The
president also tested negative on his return to Johannesburg” on December 8, it
said.
Earlier
on Sunday, Ramaphosa spoke at a memorial service for former apartheid-era
President FW de Klerk, who died last month. The proceedings were “undertaken in
compliance with health regulations pertaining to hand hygiene, the wearing of
face masks and social distancing.”
The
presidency urged anyone who had contact with Ramaphosa on Sunday to watch for
symptoms or to have themselves tested.
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