Pretoria - There seems to be light at the end of the tunnel for Tshwane, as the number of Covid-19 cases dropped significantly.
Since Tuesday last week, there has been a drop to below 200 cases daily, mayor Randall Williams said, adding that the metro was seeing a strong recovery rate at 96%.
“Despite this, it is important that residents remain cautious and vigilant in their daily engagements and activities,” Williams said.
Numbers have shown a steady decline from last Friday, with 221 new daily cases all the way to this past Tuesday, where the trend dropped to 105 new cases daily.
Williams said the City would continue to remain in a state of readiness in containing the spread of the virus.
“Over the last week, there have been extensive campaigns highlighting how prepared the city is in relation to the Covid-19 vaccine distribution programme,” he said.
Williams said the announcement by the national government that the AstraZeneca vaccine would not be rolled out was a setback in the country’s fight to contain the virus.
He said it was critical that the country has vaccines in place so that citizens were protected.
“Regardless, the metro is ready. We have identified the facilities that must support these efforts and ensured that our staff are trained and prepared for when vaccines arrive,” he said.
“However, it is important that in the interim we continue to adhere to the prescribed safety measures to prevent the further spread of the virus.
“Thank you to the residents of Tshwane for your continued support and efforts in this regard,” he said.
Meanwhile, 24 clinics are among the 73 primary healthcare facilities identified as vaccination sites in the metro, Williams has said.
Williams also called on healthcare workers, both in the public and private sector, to register for the vaccine.
The metro this week started preparations to forge ahead with the first phase of the vaccine roll-out once it got the green light from the national government.
“Healthcare workers are on the front line in the battle against Covid-19,” said Williams.
“It is therefore important they be empowered to do their work safely.
“The metro is participating in the Gauteng roll-out plan to ensure there is effective coordination between all of the relevant stakeholders in the vaccine distribution,” he said.
According to Williams, the district Covid-19 co-ordination committee was driving the process.
“When the time comes, we will be ready,” he said.
The committee had reportedly already nominated 196 staff members, which would be trained as vaccinators while “many” healthcare workers had already been trained.
The second part of their training was said to be ongoing.
Williams further said the City had made progress in finding and securing venues where vaccinations would take place.
All public healthcare workers would be vaccinated at their workplace.
A total of 22 000 vaccines would be needed to adequately cover the number of public healthcare personnel in the metro.
“Our vaccine planning and coordinating team is also continuously engaging with all relevant stakeholders both nationally and provincially,” Williams said.
Their planning also included so-called electronic vaccination data system registration, data collection and verification.
“We must ensure that we continuously share information with the public on the vaccination roll-out so that we track and monitor our progress,” he said.
Pretoria News