The Health Department says there has been a slight increase of new COVID-19 infections in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and the Free State in the last seven days.
New infections in Gauteng increased by 17% while Mpumalanga and the Free state recorded 17% and 20% increases respectively.
Briefing the media on Friday morning, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said the overall infections have, however, reached a plateau, meaning that there’s no serious decline and no worrying rise in infections.
Phaahla says the rise in new infections in these provinces can be attributed to the opening of schools.
“This plateau and the slowing down in the rate of new infections can be linked to the opening of schools. In support of this, is also the observation that in the last 14 days we have witnessed more infections amongst the below 20 years, that is the school-going age. Some colleagues in GP practices have also reported similar observations of seeing more of school-going age, below 19 years testing positive in bigger numbers,” says Phaahla.
Live stream of the Health Department media briefing:
Young people urged to vaccinate
Minister Phaahla says the vaccination of young people is imperative for effective learning in schools.
Phaahla and his deputy, Sibongiseni Dhlomo, visited the KwaMagxaki High School at Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape on Thursday where the Pfizer vaccine against coronavirus has been administered to eligible learners.
SA’s COVID-19 stats
The National Department of Health says the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases identified in SA is 3 616 075 with 3 266 new cases reported.
Eighty-two deaths have been reported and of these, 12 occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours, bringing total fatalities to 95 545 to date.
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-Additional reporting by SABC News
