Johannesburg - There were over 1 149 new Covid-19 infections in Gauteng, the provincial Health Department said on Thursday, as the number of hospitalised patients dropped to 3994 .
This comes as more than 2.95 million people have been vaccinated against the virus in the province.
The department said over 1000 people had been infected with the virus in the province in the past 24 hours.
Infections in the province have been on a gradual decline under the adjusted level 3 lockdown regulations which was announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa at the start of August.
Gauteng Health spokesperson Kwara Kekana said the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Gauteng as of Wednesday, stood at 902 070.
This as more than 872 068 people have recovered, while more than 18 551 have succumbed to the virus.
“A total number of 3 944 people are currently hospitalised in the public and private facilities,” said Kekana.
Kekana said 1768 people were hospitalised in the public sector hospitals, while another 2 226 people were in private facilities.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura last week expressed that he was not happy with the number of vaccinations taking place in the province and wanted more people to take the jabs.
The under 35 cohort has provided a boost in the government’s vaccination drive, while on Tuesday, a pilot programme which would see minibus taxis ferry the elderly – those over 50 – to vaccination sites kicked off in parts of Gauteng, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The pilot programme is expected to run until September 4, before a decision is taken on whether to roll it out to other provinces.
The Gauteng provincial government and the SABC also announced on Wednesday that the public broadcaster’s headquarters in Auckland Park would be used as a pop-up vaccination site from Thursday until Saturday.
On Thursday, many came out to the pop-up site get their jabs.
The Gauteng province is also allowing walk-ins at vaccination sites, regardless of whether they have been registered on the Electronic Vaccination Data System system or not.
IOL