Joe Phaahla Concerned Over Covid 4th Wave, Which He Expects in November
- Minister of Health Joe Phaahla has stated that he believes that the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections is expected to start around November
- Professor Salim Abdool Karim an infectious disease expert expresses his belief that that the fourth wave of Covid-19 will begin around the 2nd of December
- Karim said that data points to the third wave of Covid-19 infections ending towards the end of August
PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see Briefly News on your News Feed!
Health Minister Joe Phaahla, expects that the fourth wave of Covid-19 cases in South Africa will begin in November as South Africa continues to combat the third wave.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim an infectious disease expert as well as the former chairperson of the government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) expressed that the expected fourth wave of Covid-19 cases might begin close to the 2 December and commence for more than two months.
Source: Getty Images
Karim stated that the data points to the third wave concluding near the end of August. Government is expecting the fourth wave to unfold in a similar way to the third wave along with a new variant.
Following reports by SABC News Phaahla, has lauded the younger generation for their enthusiasm towards the vaccination drive as registrations for the 18 to 34 age group received over 500 000 applications on the first day alone.
PAY ATTENTION: Never miss breaking news – join Briefly News' Telegram channel!
According to IOL, Foster Mohale the spokesperson for the Department of Health has confirmed that hospitals are prepared for the expected influx of Covid-19 cases during the expected fourth wave.
How vaccine hesitancy impacts the country's rollout programme
Previously, Briefly News reported that vaccine hesitancy is plaguing the country with psychologists revealing that there are several factors behind why people refuse to get the Covid-19 jab. One of the reasons is a lack of relevant information about the vaccine.
The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that vaccine hesitancy is a global health threat. According to SABC News, psychologists state that the country needs to do more to address the vaccine hesitancy spreading around.
South Africa's vaccination rollout programme hits a curb
In February, South Africa launched its vaccination rollout programme with the aim of vaccinating 70% of the population by the end of the year. In order to achieve this, the country would need to vaccinate 250 000 people per day.
80k death rate mark breached, over 13k new cases reported
In other Covid-19 news, Briefly News reported that South Africa's cumulative Covid-19 death toll has risen to 80 469 with 516 new deaths recorded in 24 hours. SA's coronavirus infections have risen by 13 251 in a single day on Thursday, 26 August; this is according to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
The total number of laboratory-confirmed cases is 2 722 202. At the time of the report by the NICD, 16 162 825 tests had been conducted in both public and private sectors.
Around 268 712 vaccines were administered in the last day, making the cumulative number of vaccines administered in the country 11 363 810.
Source: Briefly News
