Cape Town - Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has revealed the action plan if a resurgence of Covid-19 hits the country, adding that the department will keep an eye on certain provinces.
Mkhize held a Covid-19 briefing on Sunday to outline the response to the pandemic. He also tackled South Africa’s readiness to deal with a possible resurgence.
The key resurgence plan actions will include heightened surveillance, differentiated approach at a district and subdistrict level, ramping up testing and contact tracing on a needs basis, case management readiness and enable appropriate quarantine and isolation in hotspots. There will also be ongoing risk communication to sustain adherence to NPIs.
“We have seen increase in activities in Eastern Cape and Western Cape. We can’t say this is a new surge but we are observing these areas,” said Mkhize.
He said more testing will be done in the the Eastern Cape, Free State, Northern Cape and Western Cape.
Mkhize stressed that all South Africans should use containment measures such as wearing masks and using hand sanitiser.
"We can't say we have the second wave yet. We are seeing cluster outbreaks and if we do not manage these cluster activities, it could flare up.“
Mkhize noted that other countries are experiencing a second wave.
The countries that got the first wave earlier are in the second wave. It is also worth noting that the second wave is worst than the first one in these countries.
South Africa’s cumulative number of cases now stands at 751 024, and the death toll at 20 241. The fatality rate stands at 2.7%
There have been a total of 693 467 recoveries.
IOL