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By IOL 
2h ago
South Africa at New Years passed the mark of 18,000 new daily cases of Covid-19 for the first time and 436 more deaths related to Covid-19 have been reported.
The country has registered a cumulative total of 1,057,161 cases, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Thursday.
“We previously warned that this second wave will outshine the first, and indeed this is the case as we are witnessing a sharp increase in the number of active cases,” said Mkhize, who was attending a candle lighting ceremony in King Edward Hospital in Durban.
“Despite running 55,000 tests in the last 24 hours, the positivity rate is 32.5%. We continue to highlight this point because it indicates that the virus is spreading so fast that it is exceeding our ability to detect it, even with good response times, “said Mkhize.
The Health Minister said 28,469 South Africans are known to succumb to Covid-19 this year, including 436 public health workers.
A cumulative total of 43,124 healthcare workers have been infected with Covid-19, with 687 new cases in KwaZulu-Natal last week, it added.
“Every time a healthcare worker becomes infected with Covid, we lose at least 10 desperately needed days of work during this time. We may lose these precious resources longer if they get sick and need to be treated and isolated for longer. We can lose them forever if they succumb to Covid-19.
“But more importantly, health workers are not just a workforce for the health care system, they are active members of society, breadwinners, community leaders, counselors and role models. We must do everything possible to protect our health workers, ”said Mkhize.
“From our point of view, we continue to closely monitor the stocks and distribution of PPE to ensure that no healthcare worker is exposed to Covid-19 and we are working 24 hours a day to secure vaccines as quickly as possible to that our healthcare workers can be immunized as soon as possible, this is an important focus for us at this time. “
The Health Minister expressed concern that the news variant and the launch of the vaccine have “dominated the conversation” recently.
“The fact is that the virus will continue to mutate and a new variant will always be discovered, that’s just a matter of time. The other fact is that we do not have a vaccine at this time. The virus will not wait until these issues are resolved.
“Therefore, fellow South Africans, I must echo the president’s plea that we remain absolutely focused on what each and every one of us can do now to protect ourselves and others. We know that wearing masks and social distancing in particular are very difficult to do all the time. But this is why it is increasingly important to collectively focus our minds on these simple life-saving interventions.
“If we cannot do these things, the figures will continue to rise and we will witness that Covid-19 itself devastates our economy because when citizens are sick they cannot be economically active and we must prioritize resources to care for the sick, the dying and those who become destitute due to loss of breadwinner through illness or death, ”said Mkhize.
“So today as we kick off the New Year, let’s recalibrate our focus and focus on the things we can all do together to break the tide of Covid-19 …
“As we light the candle, let it shine with hope, love and compassion for our South African compatriots for a prosperous 2021 and a future where we can look back and say that we defeated Covid-19 together, because we were in it together. “
More than 82.66 million people are reported to be infected by the new coronavirus worldwide and 1,805,684 have died, according to the latest Reuters tally.
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