By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said in a statement on Tuesday night that less than 1 000 new Covid-19-related cases were recorded in South Africa.
A total of 856 new cases have been identified since the last report and the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases has risen to 1 513 959.
The new cases came from 23,753 tests, at a positivity rate of 3.6%. This followed the 566 cases recorded the day before
Mkhize said further 194 Covid-19-related deaths have been reported (84 and 52 deaths were recorded the past two days). No fatalities occurred in Mpumalanga and North West, but KwaZulu-Natal recorded 80 deaths, followed by Gauteng (43), Free State (29), Limpopo (15), Western Cape (12), Eastern Cape (8) and Northern Cape (7).
This brings the total number of deaths to 50 271, with recoveries now standing at 1 433 320, representing a recovery rate of 94.6%.
The cumulative total of tests conducted to date is 9 114 026, with 23 753 new tests recorded since the last report.
The number of healthcare workers vaccinated under the Sisonke Protocol is 76 037 as of 6.30pm today.
Meanwhile South Africa is likely to see the resurgence of Covid-19 infections towards May.
This is according to Prof Shabir Madhi, professor of vaccinology at Wits University, who was speaking on Monday during a leadership dialogue under the theme “Covid-19 vaccines: challenges and opportunities”, which was hosted by the Wits Business School.
Madhi said the easing of regulations just before the Easter season could lead to the third wave arriving sooner than expected.
“If we allow mass gatherings towards Easter, we might see a resurgence at the beginning of May. Predictions were that we might see it about June as we head into winter,” he said.
Madhi added that the notion that the country would be able to achieve herd immunity through vaccination this year would not materialise, but that vaccines would minimise severe disease and deaths.
He said the immediate focus for 2021 should be centred on the vaccination of high-risk groups, which itself will allow the country to return to some normality.
“Yes, Covid is likely to be with us for a long time, but the main issue is whether we can protect against severe disease and death — which even the current generation of vaccines is likely to achieve to a great extent, “he said.
Speaking during the same event, Mkhize said the lessons from last year were that there was a need to build a resilient health system across SA.
Mkhize said the other lesson was the need for bold, united leadership from all sectors to carry the same message. “The new variant that was found in SA was unknown, but it also spread to other countries and we started to research how frequently the variant will be changing, “Mkhize said.
He said the government was hoping to receive 1.1 million vaccines by the end of March, some from Pfizer and others from Johnson & Johnson.