Covid-19: Karim Says Gauteng Not Coping With 3rd Wave, Tougher Restrictions on the Cards
- Ministerial Advisory Committee head Salim Abdool Karim was warned the Gauteng is not coping well with the third wave of Covid-19
- He did not rule out tougher restrictions being implemented in order to bring the rate of new infections under control
- Hospitals are struggling to cope with the spike in admission after over 50% of the new national infections were in Gauteng
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The third wave of Covid-19 is wreaking havoc in Gauteng and the government is mulling over possible changes to the restrictions.
Ministerial Advisory Committee head Salim Abdool Karim said that tough restrictions are on the cards.
Source: UGC
Besides most of the country's new infections being reported in the province, the hospitals are also struggling to keep up.
Over 50% of the 8 000 new infections reported in South Africa over a 24-hour period were in Gauteng according to eNCA.
Jump in infections
In the last 24 hours, South Africa has documented 8 881 new Covid-19 cases, the greatest number of new daily infections since 23 January, when more than 12 000 were recorded.
According to data supplied by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), Gauteng is the epicentre of new infections, accounting for 58% of cases reported in the previous day.
“The increased number of tests and cases, and increased positivity, are all evidence of the predicted third surge in Covid-19 cases," said the NICD, according to TimesLIVE.
Hospitals under pressure
In the last 24 hours, there were 1 150 hospital admissions, according to the institution. There were 135 additional in-hospital deaths reported in the past 24 hours.
Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Diepkloof, Soweto, and Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria has seen a 50% increase in admissions.
School vaccine programme
As per a report by IOL, teachers, cleaners and other support personnel at public schools may be vaccinated against Covid-19 this month, according to teachers' organisations.
According to Basil Manuel, executive director of the National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa, at least 500 000 Johnson & Johnson doses have been obtained for the education sector. The vaccine is still awaiting approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.
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Covid-19 numbers are increasing and South Africans are concerned
Briefly News previously reported that just two days ago, 5 000 new Covid-19 infections were recorded and new variants are emerging. On Sunday, 5 074 new Covid-19 cases were reported, according to the National Health Department's daily statistics on new infections and deaths.
In South Africa, a total of 1 696 564 Covid-19 instances have been reported with a total of 1 343 433 vaccinations administered so far.
According to the department, since the last report, a total of 11 876 594 tests have been done with 35 821 new tests being registered. After 45 people died, the total number of Covid-19-related deaths is 56 974. The recovery rate is standing at 93%.
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Source: Briefly News
