She says despite this the province is on high alert. Speaking in the Free State Legislature at Forth Raadsaal building Tsiu says so far the variant has been detected in Gauteng - but this alone does not mean it's not in other provinces. She asked residents to be vigilant and observe Covid-19 protocols which includes social distancing and taking the free available vaccine. Tsiu says her department is constantly ready for any new developments regarding the virus, and is implementing vaccine programmes.

OFM News previously reported that the department raised a concern with travel and movement in at least five connected national key roads - the N1, N3, N5, N6 and N8. This as the country is heading into the festive season.

Earlier, Tsiu said in a statement: "In the light of these interconnectedness with our neighbours and the world, we continue to encourage the use of proven scientific methods of prevention and infection control which are the non-pharmaceutical interventions." These are the use of masks, social distancing, regular washing of hands with clean running water and soap, the use of hand sanitizers, practice of cough etiquette, avoidance of non-essential travel, avoidance of poorly ventilated enclosed environments".

Tsiu adds that since the advent of Covid19, we have developed a strong capabilities of Tracking and Tracing contacts of infected persons and this has been our strong point from the first cluster of infections that we experienced in March of 2020.

"The biggest mechanism that can be employed to avoid the spiralling effect of any new variants of Covid19 is to adhere to the proven methods of prevention and management of infections. The 4th Wave is known to be an inevitable occurrence as per the example of other countries such as Germany and Austria which are currently faced with the effects of the 4th Wave. We appeal to our people to take lessons from those countries that the fact that you are vaccinated does not mean that you will not get Covid19 infections hence we encourage adherence to Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions," she further adds.

OFM News