CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa’s new daily coronavirus cases have almost tripled in three days, according to new figures released Thursday, raising alarms over the possible spread of the new omicron variant recently detected by the country’s scientists.

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       New daily confirmed cases rose to 11,535 on Thursday from 8,561 on Wednesday and 4,373 the previous day, according to official statistics. The cases represent a 22.4 percent positivity rate of people tested for the virus, up from 16.5 percent on Wednesday, a massive jump from a 1 percent positivity rate in early November, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said.

       The majority of new infections were in the populous Gauteng province around the greater Johannesburg metropolitan area, with 8,280 cases, the NICD said.

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       “Omicron is probably the fastest-spreading variant that South Africa has ever seen,” said Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the Center for Epidemic Response and Innovation at Stellenbosch University, reacting to news of the increase in cases.

       President Biden delivered remarks on the threat posed by the omicron coronavirus variant on Nov. 29, encouraging Americans to get vaccinated. (The Washington Post)

       Although scientists are warning that it is still too early to say for sure that omicron is behind the surge in cases, the rapid rise means omicron might already be overtaking the delta variant, experts said.

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       While the delta variant was dominant in all provinces until the end of October, the NICD said omicron was present in 74 percent of the genomes it sequenced in November.

       Shabir Madhi, a professor of vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said all indications were that omicron could be more transmissible than delta.

       “The majority of cases are currently presenting as a mild illness,” he added.

       Delta drove the third coronavirus wave in South Africa, which peaked at more than 26,000 cases a day in early July. Omicron is expected to trigger a fourth wave, which some experts say may already be underway.

       President Biden said South Africa has turned down vaccine doses. But the issue is more complicated than that.

       Madhi said the sharp increase in the positivity rate was concerning and showed “a substantial amount of virus transmission taking place.”

       Omicron has raised global concerns of a surge in infections, prompting governments around the world to impose travel restrictions against countries in southern Africa.