While coronavirus cases have begun declining in Gauteng, experts remain concerned about the high rate of hospitalisations. The Provincial Command Council, led by Premier David Makhura, updated citizens and the media on the province’s handling of the pandemic.
Gauteng has recorded almost 8 000 COVID-19-related deaths, with more than 380 000 positive COVID-19 cases since the virus hit our shores.
Gauteng has seen a drop in weekly cases over the past two weeks. The number of patients admitted to hospital has dropped, however, the bulk of new hospitalisations remain in the City of Johannesburg.
While experts are concerned about the high death rate in the province, last week saw the first weekly drop in deaths since mid-December 2020.
Dr Mary Kawonga, who is part of the Premier’s COVID-19 Advisory Committee, says while the data is promising, it is important for citizens to remain cautious and vigilant.
“The indication is that the COVID-19 pandemic has peaked and is on a downward trajectory. We attribute a lot of this to early implementation of public health and social measures. As much as this is good news, we are cautiously optimistic because the second wave is not over yet. We are still seeing a high number of cases and a high number of deaths. Deaths are still high even though we saw an early dip. We need to continue monitoring very closely.”
COVID-19 hotspots
The townships of Alexandra and Tembisa remain a concern. However, the severity of these hotspots has dropped significantly, according to Professor Bruce Mellado from Wits University, who is also a member of the Premier’s Advisory Committee.
“What has happened in the last two weeks, is not only that the number of hotspots stabilised but their severity, which is extremely important to guide policymakers and the population to understand how serious the hotspots are. Every district right now still has a relatively high-risk index above 10. We define a manageable probability for a third surge to be below 10. We are still not there yet.”
Vaccine rollout
South Africa is expecting 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine from the Serum Institute of India on Monday. Acting HOD for Health in Gauteng, Lesiba Malotana, says the first phase of the vaccine roll-out will target healthcare workers.
He explains the number of sites identified to administer the vaccination.
“In terms of identifying the sites, we have over 700 that are registered with the national department as vaccination sites for phase one. For phase two and three, we have over 2 000 sites. Phase one will be frontline workers across all levels. Once that is covered, phase two will be the biggest exercise, essential workers and the phase three will be the rest of the population.”
Gauteng aims to vaccinate a total of 10.5 million people in the coming months. The province believes that adjusted lockdown level three has assisted in reducing the rate of new infections, however, has warned that the second wave is not yet over.
Below is the latest coronavirus stats:
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