COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee Co-chairperson Professor Kholeka Mlisana has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement to move the country to level three lockdown.
Prof Mlisana on Morning Live:
Mlisana says they also wish to see enough vaccines being administered, particularly among educators. She says the rising number of new infections can be reduced by adhering to non-pharmaceutical interventions including the wearing of masks, social distancing and sanitising.
“Level 3 is enough, it’s up to each and every one of us to prevent the situation the country is facing right now. What the President is doing is to ensure that people do not go to overcrowded places. COVID-19 is transferred from one person to another. We have been calling on people to wear masks properly but people do not listen. We do not know whether people have given up. We appeal to the community to do what they are told to do. We can’t be attending parties during this time, numbers are rising, in Gauteng the situation is getting worse.”
Alert level 3:
SAMRC raises concern over rising infections
The South African Medical Research Council ( SAMRC) has raised concerns over the consistent rise in new COVID-19 cases across Gauteng, saying there are fears that the healthcare system will struggle to cope with hospital admissions.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, another 1 415 COVID-19 patients were admitted to hospitals yesterday bringing the total number of admissions to 8 359. Of these patients, more than 5 600 are in private hospitals.
SAMRC’s Dr Fareed Abdullah says both public and private healthcare sectors have patient capacity concerns.
“It’s clear that all public and private hospitals in the province are rapidly filling up. Our case rate in Gauteng in the 3rd wave is significantly higher than the 1st and 2nd waves. What we are concerned about in the province is the numbers needing admission is going up and we will reach a position where we run out of beds and the wards/emergency units are full and then doctors will have to start choosing patients that get admitted and those for whom they can’t find a bed.”
Latest COVID-19 stats:
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