Infectious Diseases Specialist, Dr Richard Lessells says there is uncertainty over whether South Africa will see a fourth wave of coronavirus infections as early as December.
It comes as health officials are warning that the next wave may hit Gauteng during the festive season.
However, Dr Lessells says questions remain on whether the virus could cause another surge in cases – as more people choose to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Those kinds of projections that a fourth wave would start in December – they were based on the patterns that we have seen, but I think things are very different now because we have seen a large portion of the population having had an infection with this virus and on top of that a decent chunk of the population has had one or two doses of vaccines. So there is much more uncertainty about what the virus will now do and what capacity it has to cause another kind of big surge in cases,” says Dr Lessells .
Laters COVID stats
South Africa has recorded 106 new COVID-19 cases, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed infections to 2 922 222.
This increase represents a 0.8% positivity rate.
The majority of new cases today are from Gauteng Province (21%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (19%).
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases has also reported a further two COVID-19 related deaths, bringing total fatalities to 89 179 to date.
18 558 387 tests have been conducted in both the public and private sectors.
Below are the latest coronavirus statistics in South Africa:
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