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There was no physical distance at one of the Health Department clinics in Port Elizabeth’s central business district this week as people waited for treatment. (Photo: Donna van der Watt)
This week, the Minister of Health raised the alarm that the number of Covid cases was increasing again. There are likely relaxed attitudes behind some of them.
First published in Daily Maverick 168
Covid-19 made a strong comeback this week, as several provinces recorded a marked increase in cases. Funerals, bars, and parties were identified as high-profile events.
As tracking teams view funerals, parties and bars as potential super-spreaders of coronavirus infections, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize raised the alarm this week that the number of cases was rising again.
Mkhize, recovering from testing positive for coronavirus, raised the alarm Wednesday that there has been a 9.1% increase in new cases in the past seven days, and a 10.7% increase in new cases in compared to two weeks ago.
“The risk of a resurgence remains high, we are not doing it to instill fear in you … It would be irresponsible of us to ignore ‘small flames’ that we see redevelopment in some parts of the country,” he said.
Mkhize said his reports show a “marked increase” in the number of new cases in the Western Cape. “In accordance with our resurgence plan, we define this significant increase in new cases in the Western Cape as a resurgence.”
Western Cape Health Department spokesman Mark van der Heever said there is currently an increase in the number of “wildfire” outbreaks in the province, specifically in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, Beaufort West, Oudtshoorn and Matzikama (Vredendal).
“These have required a staggered outbreak response, including increased testing and contact tracing,” he said. Teams have been able to make links between the shoots and social gatherings, including funerals and bars.
Western Cape Prime Minister Alan Winde said they were very concerned about “the laid-back behaviors we have seen, which may have led to this increase in cases” and “we are not the only province experiencing it, as reflected in the national data ”.
(Photo: Joyrene Kramer)
“The Department of Health’s own definition of a resurgence is an increase of more than 20% in new cases over a seven-day period. The Western Cape has not seen such an increase in the past seven days.
“The Western Cape government’s seven-day ‘moving average’ of new cases indicates 1,757 new cases recorded in the week through October 19 versus 1,546 the week before. This represents a 13.65% increase in new cases in the seven-day period. That said, any increase is a concern to us and has our government on full alert and responding, ”Winde said.
According to a statement issued by the provincial government of the Free State, the province registered 237 new cases on Tuesday. But the spokesman for the Free State Department of Health, Mondli Mvambi, said they have not yet noticed any “wildfire infection” in the province.
“There have been no cluster infections related to nightclubs, funerals, schools or transportation,” he said. “We are seeing family groups where one member tests positive and then infects three or four members of the same family.”
The incidence of infection in the Eastern Cape has risen from 19 / 100,000 to 24 / 100,000 in the last week, with a large outbreak linked to a church service in Macacuma near Sterkspruit still not under control.
The incidence of cases in Nelson Mandela Bay has increased from 20.2 / 100,000 to 36.5 / 100,000, Buffalo City (East London) has almost doubled from 5.6 / 100,000 to 10 / 100,000. The Sarah Baartman district, which encompasses many Karoo towns, has increased from 67.8 / 100,000 to 91.8 / 100,000.
On Thursday, Nelson Mandela Bay Metro head of disaster management Shane Brown said police and metro police have been alerted to monitor social gatherings.
Zolile Williams, the municipal manager of the Joe Gqabi District Township, located in Barkly East but also covering the Sterkspruit area, said in his weekly report that there has been a rapid increase in cases in the Macacuma area near Sterkspruit, which also It is linked to cases in Walaza, where a religious service was identified as the source of an outbreak.
“Last weekend, there were 98 active cases in Macacuma and while some recovered, some new cases were added, and the area is now at 85 active cases.”
Elsewhere in the province, 11 more cases were linked to the campus of Fort Hare University in East London, bringing the total number of cases at the university to 60 on Thursday. A small outbreak of four cases was found in Somerset East, and 11 cases were linked to a residence at Union High School in Graaff-Reinet.
Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Acting Executive Mayor Councilman Thsonono Buyeye said the number of active cases in the city increased from 220 to 396.
Brown said the access points in the subway were all places where there is too much socializing and no physical distancing. “People assume that their friends or family do not have the virus and they become careless,” he said.
Gauteng Health Department spokesperson Kwara Kekana said that, at first glance, there does not appear to be a resurgence of cases in Gauteng. DM168
