By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Premier David Makhura has announced that Gauteng is officially in a third Covid-19 wave.
Makhura made the announcement on Friday in the West Rand while officially unveiling the 181 bed AngloGold Ashanti Hospital.
“Since the start of this week, the number of cases in the province has doubled, as Gauteng, we have now arrived at the third wave. Stay Safe, protect yourself and those around, “said Makhura.
There is currently 6712 active cases in the province.
Makhura said that over 100 000 health care workers have been vaccinated since the beginning of the Sisonke vaccination trial programme.
He said the next half will be vaccinated simultaneously with the elderly people as the country enters the second phase of vaccination rollout.
According to the Department of Health, there was an increase in new cases from 8,593 in the preceding seven days (26 April to 2 May 2021), to 12,531 cases in the past seven days (3-9 May 2021), constituting a 46% increase.
Most of the increases took place in Gauteng, Limpopo, North West, Northern Cape and the Western Cape.
Covid-19 deaths in the same period increased by 18.22% from 269 to 318, with most deaths in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Western Cape.
Makhura said the province currently has 4,500 beds in public hospitals.
The Department of Health said it is working with provinces to update their resurgence plans to ensure that these are activated, and these plans mainly focus on the following:
- Case management;
- Contact tracing;
- Oxygen availability;
- Bed capacity (general beds and intensive care beds);
- Respiratory support equipment;
- Human resources.
In a statement, Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize said the national tally of confirmed cases to date now stood at 1,605,252, with 29,362 of them still active and Covid-19-related death toll had risen to 55 012 with 44 new fatalities.