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The government may have to review current lockdown restrictions and consider new measures to curb the exponential spread of the Covid-19 virus, says Health Minister Dr. Zwelini Mkhize.
The minister’s remarks come as South Africa registered 14,046 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday with a positivity rate of 26%, bringing the cumulative total of cases to 954,258.
The health department also reported 411 additional Covid-19-related deaths, bringing the total to 25,657 deaths.
The Eastern Cape recorded 101, Free State 3, Gauteng 34, Kwa-Zulu Natal 90, Mpumalanga 6, North West 6, and Western Cape 171 deaths.
“This indicates that the virus continues to spread exponentially; in fact, the rate of spread is much faster than the first wave and we will pass the peak of the first wave in the next few days.
“We must warn South Africans that we will have to review the current restrictions and consider new measures to ensure that we stop this alarming rate of spread,” the minister said.
A cumulative total of 6,269,776 tests have been performed with 54,048 tests performed since the last report.
The deputy director general of National Health, Dr. Anban Pillay, told ENCA that in the previous increase, the country averaged 12,000 daily infections before declining.
“But with the new variant and the holiday season … we anticipate there will be higher levels of transmission unless we change our behavior.”
He warned that the daily average could trigger up to 20,000 infections a day if behavior does not change around social distancing and wearing masks.
The Dr. said the new variant of the virus changes in its spike protein, making it easier for it to be transmitted and attached to cells.
He said what is very clear about this new variant is its ability to infect “much more easily.”
To date, new variants of the disease have only been detected in the UK and South Africa.
The mutations appear to make the virus more contagious and may be increasing infections among healthy young people, Bloomberg reported.
Sky News reported that genetic analysis shows that it shares some of the new strain’s mutations that are already widespread in the UK, but the two viruses have evolved separately.
Dr Susan Hopkins of Public Health England said that the new variant recently discovered in the UK and the one found in South Africa are “very different” and are “different mutations”.
“They both seem to be more transmittable,” he added.
All provinces, with the exception of the Eastern Cape, continue to report increases in their cases with KwaZulu-Natal at 30%, Western Cape at 28% and the province of Gauteng at 23% registering the largest increases and comprising 81% of the new cases.
“Therefore, it will be important for us to assess the situation in these provinces, identify critical points in these areas and in other provinces where they can be identified and make recommendations based on these findings, and the results of what has been implemented in the points. critics. that have been identified so far, ”said the minister.
Dr. Mkhize urged citizens to take all necessary precautions as they celebrate the holiday season and seek respite from a difficult year.
“Unfortunately, Covid-19 is relentless and therefore we cannot afford to be complacent at this stage. We urge all South Africans to adhere to the regulations and recommendations regarding the National State of Disaster, avoid large gatherings and congested environments, ensure adequate ventilation in the places where they gather and adhere carefully to non-pharmaceutical interventions, ”he said.
Money
The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) will inject 25 million rand towards the KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP) as scientists tackle the new Covid-19 variant.
The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr. Blade Nzimande, announced this on Friday, during a joint briefing with the Department of Health and scientists.
“This was in the wake of the latest surveillance results showing a worrying trend of the highly transmissible Covid-19 variant first identified in Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape, and moved to the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and is now the dominant and possibly the only Covid-19 variant responsible for the current increase, ”the department said.
According to the department, the 25 million rand of the 45 million rand needed over the next 12 months will help scientists complete the sequencing of 10,000 severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genomes in South Africa and Africa. .
A group of scientists discovered the new “unusual” coronavirus variant called 501.V2, which is spreading rapidly in the country.
The department said the grant will be used to understand the spread of Covid-19 and other virus lineages on the continent, while also supporting clinical and laboratory investigations of genomic variation in the country.
Vaccine
Drug makers that designed the first Covid-19 vaccine to gain clearance from Western regulators say they could reinstate the injection to counter a new strain in just six weeks, if needed, Bloomberg reported.
Healthcare workers, older people and people with comorbidities and essential workers will be among the first to receive the Covax vaccine, which will be delivered to South Africa in the first half of 2021.
This comes after the National Department of Health and the Solidarity Fund made an initial payment of $ 19.2 million (R283 million) to the GAVI vaccine alliance to secure South Africa’s entry into the Covax facility.
#Listen to the experts
The Covax vaccine will be delivered to South Africa in the first half of 2021. So who gets it first? We asked the chairman of the ministerial advisory committee:
Professor Salim Abdool Karim. pic.twitter.com/njqLzMO8E1– Dr. Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) December 23, 2020
Read: What Vaccine Manufacturers Say About Mutant Strains of Covid-19
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