Covid19: Gauteng on the Path to Beating Devastating 3rd Wave
- The Covid-19 crisis in Gauteng may well be nearing its end as a steady decline in the infection rate continues
- Professors Salim Abdool Karim and Shabir Madhi, both renowned academics in the field of medicine, noted the apparent decline in spite of the unrest of recent days
- Conversely, coastal provinces including KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, have shown an increase with a peak expected in due course
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There seems to be a consensus within the medical and science communities that Gauteng's destructive third wave of Covid-19 infections will soon be a thing of the past.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, the former chair of the ministerial advisory committee on Covid-19, said the province, which was recently rocked by a wave of public violence, has shown a decline in the infection rate.
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He added that the third wave was more than twice the peak of the first and second waves in the country, according to a report by TimesLIVE.
“Gauteng has really been through a rough patch, but now that they are on the decline, the number of cases will start rapidly going down,” said Karim.
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Supporting this claim are statistics that have shown the province's 21 per cent decline in the infection rate in the past week. Karim said KwaZulu-Natal, another province rocked by days of unrest, was already on the increase prior to the violent scenes that broke out.
“We expect it to continue going up and because of the [unrest] situation in KZN, the testing has come to a very slow pace and they are identifying very few cases.
"By next week, when things are opening up and public transport becomes available, the hospitals and laboratories back to functioning, we will start seeing the climb again," he added.
Another renowned academic, Professor Shabir Madhi, a Professor of Vaccinology at the Wits University, said other provinces will have to wait about three weeks before seeing a downward trend.
Conversely, he said coastal provinces were showing an increase with a peak expected in due course," according to eNCA.
"Despite disruptions of testing, we expect to continue seeing a decline with the number of daily cases. But unfortunately, that's not the case for other provinces like KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape," warned Madhi.
"Those provinces are still on an upward trajectory and about three to four weeks away before they peak. And with the disruptions and restrictions taking place that might be more protracted."
Covid19 fears climb, Experts predict fourth wave during SA local government elections
Per a previous Briefly News report, medical experts are warning of a possible fourth wave of infections in the country by the time the October elections roll around.
South Africa's Local Government Elections are scheduled for 27 October this year. Health experts have warned that the elections should only go ahead if 80 per cent of high-risk [60 and above] individuals are vaccinated.
People with underlying medical conditions or co-morbidities such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity are also at a high risk of infection.
There are additional calls for a large majority of such people to also be vaccinated in earnest if a consistent decline in the mortality rate is to be recorded or observed.
According to TimesLive, the leading experts have formed the opinion that this might be a stretch too far given the current slow rate of South Africa's vaccination rollout.
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Source: Briefly News
