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Zweli Mkhize, the Minister of Health.
- The Eastern Cape now accounts for between 50% and 55% of daily new Covid-19 cases.
- Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says it is too early to call it a second wave of infections.
- He goes to the province to look for resources at the local level.
Whether the resurgence of Covid-19 in the Eastern Cape will turn into a second wave of infections depends on how successful that area is, says Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, who is addressing the province.
On Wednesday, Mkhize was reporting at a joint meeting of the Portfolio Committees on Health and Women, Children and People with Disabilities on a report by the Commission for Gender Equality analyzing the forced sterilization of HIV-positive women, when the deputy from DA Siviwe Gwarube asked him to get an update on the situation in the Eastern Cape.
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Mkhize responded that at the peak of the pandemic, there were around 13,000 new cases a day, but that had dropped to around 1,000 a day.
“But now those cases have started to increase. And as they increase, we see that the increase is actually coming from the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape.
New cases
“More significantly, the Eastern Cape is now responsible for 50-55% of new positive cases on a daily basis.”
According to Mkhize, it is too early to call it a second wave.
“It is a cluster outbreak that is beginning to respond to what we define as a resurgence; whether it is the next full wave or not depends on how successful we are in containing that area.”
Mkhize is also concerned about the Garden Route in the Western Cape.
He goes to the Eastern Cape to analyze human resources and equipment availability, including oxygen, locally.
