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South Africa posted a new level 1 lockdown record of 4,932 daily Covid-19 infections on Friday.
In a statement, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said that 33,415 additional tests had been performed and that the official total of infections now stands at 805,804.
Another 160 deaths were reported, bringing that dismal total to 21,963.
This would mean that South Africa now has more than 43,000 active and confirmed and active cases at this time.
To date, the total number of confirmed # COVID-19 cases is 805,804, the total number of deaths is 21,963, and the total number of recoveries is 740,450. pic.twitter.com/gf4JAJGxiJ
– Dr. Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) December 4, 2020
Garden path
Mhkize visited Garden Route on Friday to inspect plans aimed at addressing the rise in coronavirus infections in the region.
He met with Western Cape Health MEC Nomafrench Mbombo and the mayors of the districts within the area to discuss the challenges faced due to the resurgence of Covid-19 cases.
The outbreaks in the Garden Route and the Eastern Cape, which many fear could cause a second wave of the pandemic if not contained, have taken authorities “by surprise,” Mkhize said.
This is due to the rapid increase in cases, which have skyrocketed in just a few weeks.
On Thursday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation, saying that a more localized approach will be taken to quell infection outbreaks in hotspot areas.
This included a tighter curfew and the limitation of alcohol sales in the Nelson Mandela subway. The rest of the country will remain at normal lockdown level 1, albeit with greater enforcement by law enforcement officials.
Garden Route and Sarah Baartman District Municipality are the other two identified hotspots. However, the national government has not yet implemented stricter measures in these areas.
WHO warns that vaccines ‘are not equal to zero Covid’
Launching vaccines to fight the Covid-19 pandemic will not by itself eliminate the deadly coronavirus, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
The WHO cautioned against complacency and what it said was a mistaken belief that because vaccines are on the near horizon, the crisis is over.
“Vaccines do not equal zero Covid,” said WHO emergency director Michael Ryan at a virtual press conference.
“Vaccines and vaccination will add an important, important and powerful tool to the set of tools that we have. But by themselves, they won’t do the job. “
Britain on Wednesday became the first Western country to approve a vaccine for general use, putting pressure on other countries to quickly follow suit.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said progress in vaccines “encourages us all and now we can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“However, WHO is concerned that there is a growing perception that the pandemic is over.
“Many places are witnessing very high transmission of the virus, which is putting enormous pressure on hospitals, intensive care units and healthcare workers.”
Global coronavirus infections topped 65 million on Friday.
The new coronavirus has killed at least 1.5 million people since the outbreak emerged in China last December, according to a count from official sources compiled by AFP.
“The pandemic still has a long way to go and the decisions that leaders and citizens make in the coming days will determine both the course of the virus in the short term and when this pandemic will end,” Tedros said.
Additional information from News24 Wire.
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