WITH country's downgrade from an Adjusted Alert Level 4 to an Adjusted Alert Level 3 on Sunday, former co-chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, has urged communities not to get complacent.
On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the lifting of a number of restrictions as the country's new Covid-19 infection numbers showed a steady decrease.
The move sees the resumption of interprovincial travel for leisure and the lifting of the booze ban.
Speaking to eNCA following the president's “family” meeting, Karim said while it may seem as if the country has surpassed the third wave, there were still areas where the virus was causing havoc.
According to the latest figures from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, SA has a total of 2 408 525 confirmed cases with 520 deaths. Currently there are 150 629 active cases.
Gauteng is still recording the highest number of daily new infections at 30%, followed by Western Cape (27%). KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 11%, Mpumalanga and North West each accounted for 7%, Limpopo accounted for 6%, Eastern Cape accounted for 5%, Free State accounted for 4% and Northern Cape accounted for 2%.
"We can ease restrictions but we have to be careful not to ease them too much because then we run the risk of getting a second peak," Karim said.
He added Ramaphosa has had to walk a fine line but the country was now at a state in the coronavirus pandemic where it looks as though we have passed the worst.
IOL