South African President Cyril Ramaphosa resumed work on Monday after spending a week in isolation following a positive Covid-19 test, the presidency confirmed, reported Africa News.
Mondli Gungubele, a Minister in the Presidency, said Ramaphosa was all well and resumed work on Monday and would chair a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Ramaphosa, who is fully vaccinated, began to feel unwell on December 12. He had mild symptoms and was later tested positive for COVID-19.
The South African president went in self-isolation at his official residence in Cape Town and was being monitored by the South African Military Health Service. He delegated his presidential responsibilities to Deputy President David Mabuza.
Gungubele said the president has thanked the people of the country, leaders, and international friends who conveyed their good wishes during this period and also wished a safe and speedy recovery to all persons infected with Covid-19.
He said President Ramaphosa has appealed to the people to get vaccinated against coronavirus and stay safe by wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing, washing or sanitizing hands frequently, and avoiding gatherings.
It is not yet known whether the president had been infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant. The highly mutated coronavirus variant was first detected in South Africa last month.
South Africa, which is Africa’s worst-hit country, has reported more than 3.3 million COVID-19 cases and more than 90,000 deaths. The country’s 7-day rolling average of daily new cases has increased from 16.9 new cases per 100,000 people on December 5 to 33.8 new cases per 100,000 people on December 19.
Last week, the South African government announced its decision to keep the country on Level 1 of the lockdown despite increasing Covid-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. It cited low deaths and hospitalization rates as reasons for not changing the lockdown level.
