Cape Town – New Covid-19 infections in the province are on the uptick, as some countries are experiencing a higher number of infections now than during the first wave of the pandemic.
According to the provincial Dashboard, by yesterday the Western Cape had recorded 113 755 Covid-19 cases and 4 288 deaths.
The province yesterday had recorded 309 new infections in the previous 24 hours.
The Dashboard’s seven-day moving average Covid-19 case gauge stood at 128 by September 30. By October 2, the gauge stood at 138, by October 6 at 161 and by October 10 at 203 average cases a day.
The country topped the 700 000 case mark at the weekend, with the national health department confirming the number of Covid-19 cases as 702 131 with 1 928 new cases identified. The recovery rate is 90%.
This as President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday wished Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize and his wife, Dr May Mkhize, a safe and speedy recovery from their Covid-19 infection.
“The president wishes the Mkhizes a safe and restful recovery and joins the minister in calling on all South Africans to remain careful and do all we need to do to keep safe and help the country avoid a second wave of the pandemic,” the Presidency said.
Mkhize announced on Sunday night that he and his wife had tested positive for Covid-19 and were experiencing symptoms.
“We decided to go for a test (on Saturday) when I started showing mild symptoms. I was feeling abnormally exhausted and as the day progressed, I started loosing appetite.
“My wife had a cough, was dizzy and extremely exhausted. Given her symptoms, the doctors advised that she must be admitted for observation and rehydration,” Mkhize said.
World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing that as the northern hemisphere winter approached, cases of Covid-19 were rising globally, especially in Europe where countries were expanding measures to contain it.
“Last week, the number of cases reported in Europe was almost three times higher than during the first peak in March.
“Although the number of deaths reported in Europe last week is much lower than in March, hospitalisations are increasing and many cities are reporting they will reach their intensive care bed capacity in the coming weeks,” Ghebreyesus said.
Local experts have warned that small outbreaks in various provinces could put the country at risk of a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
South African medical scientist Professor Salim Abdool Karim said it was not clear when the second wave would occur. However, it was likely to be related to an increase in levels of complacency.
“We cannot predict when we will get the second wave. We do know that about half of the countries that had the first wave, also had a second wave. So there is a good chance that we are going to get a second wave.
“I think our highest risk of a second wave will be in December, when people are travelling on vacation they tend to let their guard down, and they tend to congregate in social events, that’s when I think we have a high chance of having second wave,” he said.
Karim said young people at mass gatherings, especially parties where there was alcohol, posed a serious threat to all South Africans.
Cape Times