according to the Los Angeles Times. In fact, De Oliveira points to this population of people as a potential "factory" for variants, and describes this group as largely young and likely unvaccinated against COVID.
South Africa has one of the highest rates of HIV in the world, with about 2.2 million individuals with HIV that is undetected, untreated, or poorly controlled through irregular drug adherence.
There is no confirmation yet that a person living with HIV — whether they knew they had HIV or not — is the cause of Omicron.