LUSAKA, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Zambia recorded eight more Omicron COVID-19 cases this week, bringing the cases of the new variant to 11, the country's health ministry said Saturday.
The health ministry said the new cases were all recorded in Lusaka, the country's capital, with five of the patients having a history of traveling outside the country recently.
Minister of Health Sylvia Masebo said the cases consisted of five males and three females, aged between 18 and 76, of whom, five had been vaccinated against COVID-19.
According to the official, the first three people who had contracted Omicron have recovered and tested negative.
In remarks delivered during a COVID-19 update press briefing, the minister also said the country was on its way to the fourth wave going by the current trend of the pandemic, noting the country has started seeing increased cases of infection, with the rate of positivity going up from 0.1 percent in previous weeks to the current 4 percent.
"It is no surprise as we anticipated this, considering that several countries globally are already experiencing the fourth wave," she said.
The minister said the country has also started seeing an increase in both new and total admissions, recording 19 new admissions this week, four times more than in the past three months.
In the past 24 hours, the country recorded 235 new cases out of 5,446 tests done, representing a 4 percent overall national positivity, bringing the cumulative cases of the country to 210,959, while one patient died during the same period, bringing the total deaths to 3,669, according to health ministry figures.
A total of 54 patients were discharged during the same period, bringing the total recoveries to 206,606.
The country has a total of 684 active cases. Enditem
