NATIONAL NEWS - Senior South African government officials says that a recent spike in Covid-19 infections in some parts of South Africa is worrisome.
“The virus is still a constant threat and vaccination remains the most effective weapon to protect ourselves,” the Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, on Thursday told a media briefing on a cabinet meeting held the previous day.
On the same day, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported that 8 920 new Covid-19 cases had been identified in South Africa.
This brought the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 871 085. The increase represents a 23.1% positivity rate.
The majority of new cases on May 12 (yesterday) were from Gauteng (39%), followed by Kwa-Zulu Natal (22%), Western Cape (16%), Eastern Cape (7%), Free State (6%), North West (4%), Mpumalanga (3%), Northern Cape (2%) and Limpopo (1%).
The institute said the national Department of Health further reported 21 deaths.
Out of 21 deaths, eight occurred in the past 24 to 48 hours.
This has brought the cumulative Covid-19 deaths to 100 630 to date. So far 24 804 199 tests had been conducted in both public and private sectors.
The NICD further said that hospital admissions had increased to 150 over the past 24 hours.
Health minister Joe Phaahla, presenting the budget vote of his department for the 2022/23 financial year, this week said South Africa had witnessed four waves of Covid-19, with speculations as to ‘whether we are already in the fifth wave, or it is still coming’.
Phaahla said expert indications were that the country had not yet entered the fifth wave, however ‘as the cold weather takes hold and we spend more times indoors the risk of the fifth wave continues to loom large’.
“We have made lots of progress with our vaccination programme. As of May 9, we have administered 35,1-million vaccine doses to just over 19-million adults, which are 49.5% of all adults.”
He said that over 70% of the population had already been in contact with the virus.
“Therefore, we have some natural immunity. The truth is this immunity wanes with time and it cannot be boosted. So, while the virus is amongst us, the best defence is vaccination.”
Phaahla said the national health department had been allocated R2b for vaccines in the 2022/23 financial year.
The allocation of funds also comes at the time when Phaahla has extended the period for public comments on health regulations relating to the virus by three months with effect from May 5.
The new closing date for submission of comments is 5 July.
The comments will relate to regulations such as the wearing of face masks, gatherings and persons entering the country.
