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The Democratic Alliance has raised concerns about the recent rise in Gauteng’s Covid-19 infections and the lack of accurate reporting.
The province reported 1,162 new infections on Wednesday (Dec. 10), nearly triple the average number of daily infections last week.
However, DA Gauteng health representative Jack Bloom says the provincial government has not provided precise figures and a district breakdown to track the increase in cases.
“People have the right to be informed about emerging hotspots, but the Gauteng Health Department has not released figures for districts and sub-districts since 4 November.
“There is also a question mark on the accuracy of the Gauteng figures, as at one point it was claimed that there were fewer active infections than those in the hospital with the disease. This prompted the National Department of Health to ask Gauteng to ‘harmonize’ its data, as the figures did not make sense, “said Bloom.
He added that there are currently 1,349 Covid-19 patients in Gauteng hospitals, which is much lower than the 7,500 recorded at the peak of the epidemic in July this year. However, he said the numbers can be expected to rise rapidly.
“People must take basic precautions during the holiday season to curb the resurgence of this epidemic, as our hospitals will again be under great pressure.”
Second wave
While Gauteng was thought to have brought its coronavirus cases under control, Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize confirmed that the province is partly responsible for driving a second wave of infections in the country.
“Now we are entering a second wave. It is important for us to highlight that four provinces, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, are the key drivers of this new wave, ”the minister said in a briefing on Wednesday.
“We looked at the number of tests performed, the rate of positivity, the number of positive cases, the percentage of positives, the number of people entering and the number of deaths.
“All of these together should show an indication of an increase in a period from week to week over a period of seven days. Then we conclude that there is an increase. “
Mkhize said that the majority of new cases are from the Western Cape (30%), followed by the Eastern Cape (24%), KZN (23%) and Gauteng (17%).
“The other seriously worrying issue that I need to bring to the public’s attention, first of all, is that when we were on the plateau, we had a 10% positivity rate.
“As of today, the rate is 18%. But some provinces are well above 18%; 18% is now the average for the entire country. There is a rapid increase in KZN and Gauteng, which is exponential, ”he said.
On Wednesday, South Africa reported 6,709 new cases, bringing the total reported to 828,598.
Deaths have reached 22,574, a daily increase of 142, while recoveries have risen to 754,658, leaving the country with a balance of 51,366 active cases.
Read: Ramaphosa to discuss Covid restrictions when second wave arrives
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