According to the South African government, new data from its health department suggests that the country's latest wave of COVID-19 cases has passed with no significant spike in deaths.

This wave, caused by the emergence of the Omicron variant, has apparently passed with the rise in deaths "small" in the country that first identified the new strain of the virus, giving cautious hope to many countries currently experiencing the variant.

"The speed with which the Omicron-driven fourth wave rose, peaked and then declined has been staggering," said Fareed Abdullah, Director of the South African Medical Research Council, yesterday.

"Peak in four weeks and precipitous decline in another two. This Omicron wave is over in the city of Tshwane. It was a flash flood more than a wave."

In South Africa, the overall number of cases has fallen over the past two weeks to an average of 11,500 a day, a 30% decrease on the previous week. Although this is promising data, some experts have speculated that reduced testing during the holiday season may have distorted these figures.

In Ireland, the Department of Health confirmed 20,110 new cases of COVID-19 today.

There are currently 682 people in hospital who have tested positive for the virus, a rise of 63 since yesterday. Of these positive cases, 86 are in ICU, down two.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced yesterday that those aged 4-39 can receive free antigen tests from the Irish Government from next Monday. This news comes after those in that age group were advised not to get a PCR test unless they first test positive via an antigen test, with the HSE's testing apparatus strained in the past week.