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Johannesburg, South Africa – South Africa’s health services are collapsing under pressure from rising COVID-19 infections driven in part by a new variant of the coronavirus spreading across the country.
Medical professionals warn that the “relentless” wave of infections that has seen more than 130,000 new COVID-19 cases and 4,000 related deaths in the last week alone threatens to invade public and private hospitals.
“As soon as the beds are opened, there are more than 10 people waiting to fill them, we cannot cope,” a medical officer working at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg told Al Jazeera.
“This has been relentless and far worse than the first wave of infections.”
The new variant, dubbed 501.V2, has been found in all nine provinces of the country, as well as beyond the country’s borders, prompting several countries to ban flights from South Africa.
The variant has been associated with a higher viral load, leading some scientists to believe that it is more transmissible and possibly a major factor contributing to increased infections.
Others, however, urge caution as more studies are underway, with some officials blaming the current surge in infections on a lack of compliance with coronavirus containment measures and “over-spread” events during the holiday period. .
South Africa has now surpassed 1.3 million infections and more than 36,000 deaths from COVID-19 [File: Reuters]
In late December, the government placed the country under “level three” lockdown restrictions, once again banning the sale of alcohol and re-enacting a night curfew, in an attempt to prevent infection.
Public gatherings were also discouraged, funerals were limited to no more than 50 people, and the reopening of schools this month was delayed until mid-February.
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced earlier this week the closure of South Africa’s 20 land points of entry, in a move fueled by the formation of kilometer-long meandering queues at the country’s borders as migrants attempted to return from neighboring countries after visiting your country. countries of origin during the holiday period.
“This [congestion] has exposed many people to infections while they wait to be processed; and it has been difficult to ensure that the sanitary requirements for entry into South Africa are met. Many people arrive without proof of COVID-19 tests, ”Ramaphosa said on January 11.
The borders will remain closed until mid-February, and only cargo transporters, diplomats, returning South African nationals, permanent residents, and foreigners with a valid visa will be allowed to pass. Everyone wishing to cross must show a negative COVID-19 PCR test within 72 hours of arrival at the border.
“People are unable to seek care or even access sanitation and water services because they are trapped in long immobile lines and can exacerbate the risks of creating superprocessor events for COVID-19,” Vinayak Bhardwaj of Doctors Without Borders told Al Jazeera.
South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs has dispatched additional personnel to the country’s busiest land ports to ease congestion, while authorities have arrested hundreds of people who entered the country from neighboring Zimbabwe, Mozambique, eSwatini and Lesotho by climbing fences. and crossing rivers, in addition to forging false travel documents and PCR tests.
Amir Sheikh of the African Diaspora Forum described the ban as “disastrous”.
“People are returning to their homes by whatever means necessary,” he told Al Jazeera. “Just because they are not South African does not mean that their lives are not here. Some people who were banned from have called this country home for decades. “
The brakes came as the economic effects of one of the world’s tightest lockdowns, with large swaths of the economy closed for most of 2020, began to be felt. More than 2.2 million jobs were eliminated during the second quarter of the year alone, and the Reserve Bank of South Africa projects a 6.1 percent drop in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020.
South Africa is fighting an increasing number of Covid-19 infections [File: Themba Hadebe/AP Photo]‘Uncertain future’
Meanwhile, after the government was embroiled in corruption scandals stemming from the distribution of personal protective equipment and food packages during the initial stages of the pandemic, discontent is now also fueling South Africa’s plans to acquire and distribute COVID-19 vaccines.
The government aims to inoculate two-thirds of South Africa’s 59 million people in the next 18 months, but some medical experts say the goal is unrealistic given the country’s already overburdened resources and the apparent delay in securing a supply. appropriate dose of vaccine.
1.5 million initial doses of Oxford University’s AstraZeneca vaccine have been earmarked for front-line healthcare workers and are expected to arrive from India from February.
The government has also announced that 20 million doses of vaccines will arrive in South Africa during the course of 2021, but details about their origin and cost remain elusive, drawing criticism from scientists, civil society and opposition parties that Authorities have lagged behind the mark in the global race for vaccines.
“Vaccines may be ready for implementation after months of rapid research around the world. But if South Africa cannot procure enough vaccines, it leaves the country with an uncertain future on how the coronavirus crisis will end, ”said Dr. Shabir Madhi, a professor of vaccination at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
In total, South Africa has recorded more than 1.3 million coronavirus infections and at least 36,851 related deaths. However, these are only the confirmed figures. Statistics released by the government in early January showed a year-on-year increase of nearly 20,000 deaths in December, with 55,676 deaths recorded last month compared to 38,620 the previous year.
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