NYAKALLO TEFU
THE country’s coronavirus hotspots would be closely monitored after the official COVID-19 model predicted 45 000 South Africans would have died from the virus by mid-July, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said during the National Assembly’s first hybrid sitting on Wednesday.
The most stricken hotspot by far is the Cape Town metro with 117.2 infections per 100,000 residents, followed by Buffalo City at 43.5, Nelson Mandela Bay metro at 26.1, the Cape Winelands district at 22.2 and Eland’s Bay at 21.3.
The list also includes Chris Hani district in the Eastern Cape with 13.6, Ekurhuleni with 13.2 and eThekwini with 12.1.
“The purpose of identifying hotspots was to be able to take all the measures necessary to control the rise of infections”, said Mkhize.
Mkhize said districts classified as hotspots could remain at Level 4 with the intensive implementation of testing and restrictions.
The minister said districts would be identified by areas of vigilance – fewer than five cases per 100,000 people, emerging hotspots – fewer than five cases per 100,000 people, but increasing cases and hotspots – more than five cases per 100,000 people.
“A district-level alert system will help to monitor those who need to take extra cautious and we must focus on the emergence of new infections,” said Mkhize.
He said government has taken steps to intervene in areas considered hotspots by deploying experts and specialists who will implement measures to curb the spread of the virus.
“These areas also require heightened levels of tracing of contacts of positive patients, ensuring that those who are positive remain in quarantine/isolation and those who cannot self-quarantine are accommodated in quarantine facilities provided by provinces,” said Mkhize.
South Africa currently has 25 937 positive cases of the novel coronavirus.
“A total of 634 996 tests have been conducted to date with 29 005 tests recorded since the last report,” Mkhize said.
“Regrettably, we report 28 more Covid-19 related deaths – this brings the total national deaths to 552. We wish to express our condolences to the loved ones of the deceased and thank the health care workers who treated these patients. The recoveries to date are 13 451 which translates to a recovery rate of 52 per cent.”
Of the cases, the Western Cape had 65.1 per cent of the Covid-19 cases with 16 893 confirmed cases, Gauteng had 12.2 percent with 3 167 confirmed cases, Eastern Cape had 11.7 per cent with 3 047 cases, KwaZulu-Natal 8.4 per cent with 2 186 cases, Free State had 0.9 per cent of the cases with 221 people testing positive, Limpopo has 141 confirmed cases, Mpumalanga has 106, North West has 128, and there are 48 confirmed cases in Northern Cape.