Cape Town - After remaining consistently below 5% for the past 3 weeks, South Africa’s daily test positivity rate has jumped to more than 9%.
The Covid-19 third wave, which had been predicted to hit the country after the long Easter weekend has not yet materialised. However, scientists have noticed a slight increase in the number of new infections.
Dr Ridhwaan Suliman, from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, said it would take around 10 to 14 days to determine whether Easter gatherings would increase case numbers.
He said there were clear signs that an "Easter wave" could be driven by a resurgence in three of the smaller provinces – the Northern Cape, the Free State and the North West.
Professor Tulio de Oliveira, the director of the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform, said South Africa needed to increase some of the public health response which includes testing, contact tracing, quarantine and isolation.
17/04/21: #COVID19 in SA 🇿🇦
— Ridhwaan Suliman (@rid1tweets) April 17, 2021
After remaining consistently below 5% for the past 3 weeks, daily test positivity rate in SA🇿🇦 jumps to 9.2% today 🚩📈
Also not sure why so few new tests? This is not the "weekend effect", which we normally see reported on Mondays and Tuesdays 🤔 pic.twitter.com/wjtDqraUnN
Sahpra recommends pause be lifted for J&J vaccine
Over the past weekend, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) recommended the government lift the pause on administering Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccines to health-care workers.
Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended a pause on the issuing of the vaccine over “potentially dangerous” blood clotting concerns.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced on the same day, that the roll-out part of the Sisonke Implementation study would be temporarily suspended.
Six women in the US developed a rare blood-clotting disorder after getting the vaccine. One case was fatal and one remains in critical care.
Sahpra said that it had been reviewing data from Johnson & Johnson’s local research study and found no major safety concerns.
Covid-19 vaccine registration open for over 60s
South African citizens who would like to receive a Covid-19 vaccine and are over the age of 60 are able to register through the Electronic Vaccination Data System.
Registration opened on Friday. The vaccines will be rolled out in two phases – on May 17 and October 17.
With self-registration, individuals would have to log into a web portal and register themselves. Those who are unable to self-register could visit walk-in centres and vaccination sites.
To register, people need to have access to the internet, their ID number or passport, and general contact information, including a cellphone number.
If you are unable to register by these methods, you may go to the nearest vaccination centre and you will be registered on the spot.