[wyiske]

The South African variant is almost certainly not spreading faster because of the variant but because there were super spreader events like recently 1000 people tested positive after going to a night club [1]. Indoor weddings, funerals, and other big events have contributed too. While people wear masks (badly) outdoors and in shops, I think the root cause is bars, clubs, shebeens, etc. The government is also reluctant to introduce a new lockdown for fear of the damage to the economy.

I’ve just come from the UK, and while rules were less strict for a while, and people weren’t wearing masks as much, I’m less certain if people were social distancing. We certainly were in preparation for travel, but I imagine schools, college holidays, etc contributed just as much as any variant.

[1] https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2020-12-08-130...