S Africa Will Stop Tracing And Quarantining Contacts Of Weak Omicron Variant

S. Africa Will Stop Tracing and Quarantining Contacts of Weak Omicron Variant As U.S. Pushes 4th Vaccine

Amber Crawford

South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on COVID-19 has announced they no longer find it necessary to carry out contact tracing and quarantining of Omicron contacts because of how weak the variant is.

In a memo to South Africa’s Health Minister Joe Phaahla, the MAC wrote,

“Crucially, it appears that efforts to eliminate and/or contain the virus are not likely to be successful. Therefore, it is critical that the role of containment efforts like quarantine and contact tracing is re-evaluated.”

The memo explains the negative impact, both economically and socially, that quarantining Omicron contacts has on the economy of South Africa. “On an individual level, the consequences of prolonged quarantining include loss of income, loss of employment, and loss of schooling time,” said the letter to Phaahla. “We propose that quarantining be discontinued with immediate effect for contacts of cases of Covid-19. This applies equally to vaccinated and non-vaccinated contacts. No testing for Covid-19 is required irrespective of the exposure risk, unless the contact becomes symptomatic. We further propose that contact tracing be stopped.”

The letter continues, describing the ineffectiveness of contact tracing, saying, “The inability of the current testing strategy to identify the bulk of cases is illustrated by the high SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity rates seen across multiple provinces in serosurveys, implying that only a fraction of cases (perhaps one in 10, or even less) are ever diagnosed.”

The MAC reasons that, “if the vast majority of cases are not diagnosed, then the vast majority of case contacts are also not diagnosed. This means that quarantining and contact tracing are of negligible public health benefit in the South African setting.”

South African doctor, Dr. Angelique Coetzee, has already publically expressed how unnecessary all the panic surrounding this new variant is due to its mild symptoms. All this being said, quarantine and contact tracing measures will do more harm than good for the economy of South Africa, a realization that should be taken into serious consideration worldwide.

These sentiments are completely contradicted by Dr. Fauci, who, despite evidence to the contrary, insists that this new variant will likely cause record numbers of COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. And, as contact tracing begins to be seen as trivial in South Africa, the US ramps up its contact tracing to support the fear tactics the Biden regime is trying to use on the nation.