DURBAN - KwaZulu-Natal has now overtaken the Western Cape and is now the province with the second most recorded cases. The province has to date recorded 100 494 cases,
the Western Cape 100 316, while Gauteng now stands at 194 093 cases.
Last week, during a tour of KZN ,Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize warned that the province is heading for its peak within the next few weeks. Despite its high infection rate, KZN's confirmed fatalities to date at 1,450 are significantly lower than the Western Cape which has recorded 3,454, Gauteng with 2,653 and the Eastern Cape with 2,286.
In an interview earlier today with ENCA, Dr Sandile Tshabalala the head of department of health in the province said that the entire province is an epicentre.
“When you look at our numbers, you will realise that it is mostly the commercial districts that have high rates of infection starting with eThekwini followed by uMgungundlovu and then King Cetshwayo,” he said.
Tshabalala also raised concerns that people were not adhering to the regulations and said they have noted that people were not wearing their masks and practicing social distance.
“These are some issues why we supported the ban of alcohol because we found that where alcohol was being used people behaved unruly. The washing of hands is also not happening the way it should. The other aspect is that we are finding our health care workers getting in large numbers, we think that our staff are not cautious when they are not attending patients,” said Tshabalala.
While the spike in KwaZulu-Natal is a worry for Mkhize, the overall decline in new Covid-19 infections in South Africa is seen as a positive.
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