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Zweli Mkhize has expressed optimism about the slowdown of Covid-19 in the country.
- Health Minister Zweli Mkhize believes the sooner South Africa falls to lockdown level 1, the better, according to media reports.
- He said daily positive Covid-19 cases had been declining, despite relaxed restrictions.
- However, he cautioned against an early celebration, as a second wave might still be possible.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says South Africa has outgrown its Covid-19 surge and the sooner the lockdown can be lowered to level 1 the better, according to media reports.
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According to TimesLive and BusinessTech on Monday, Mkhize, in media interviews, was optimistic about South Africa’s Covid-19 trajectory, saying the number of people testing positive every day had dropped from 11,000 to about 2,000. .
He added that South Africa had outgrown its Covid-19 surge, but cautioned against an early celebration.
“We never really knew what to expect and the reality is that we can now safely say that we have overcome the increase. We have not yet overcome the worst. We are concerned about what may happen in terms of a resurgence in the country,” Mkhize said . said.
He added that while an increase in the number was expected with a relaxation of the restrictions on lock levels 3 and 2, this did not happen.
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“It would have been logical that from Level 3 to Level 2 there would have been an increase in numbers, it did not happen. We do not want to draw conclusions, because we have seen what happened in other countries where there was a pause for a few weeks before a resurgence. “
Mkhize added:
The sooner we get to Level 1, the better; the sooner we have a normal economy, the better, it is better for the country. We hope South Africans understand that in order to get there, we have to make sure we are equally cautious at Level 2 so there is no resurgence.
South Africa’s recovery rate was currently at 88% as of Wednesday.
Mkhzie said the country ranked fifth in the number of positive cases globally, but fell to seventh and could drop to eighth if the rate continues to fall.
Despite this, Mkhize urged South Africans to be cautious.
“We are at a point where our numbers are steadily declining: the numbers of hospitalizations are down and people in intensive care units (ICUs) are declining. We must be very optimistic, but still very cautious. We are not seeing the end of the disease yet, “he said.
He added that while he hoped there would not be a second wave of infections, the lesson learned from other countries indicated that lowering your guard could be dangerous.
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“We’ve outgrown the wave. It went up around June, and July was the highest. For about three weeks, we’ve been on a steady decline. We’re not seeing any new spikes or spikes. We really hope we won’t get a second surge.
“We’ve seen other countries celebrate a drop in numbers, reach a point where zero patients tested positive, and then all of a sudden it flared again. We must maintain our precautions and all containment measures must remain in place.” Mkhize said. .
– Compiled by Azarrah Karrim
