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Localized coronavirus outbreaks in parts of South Africa have raised fears the country could see a resurgence in cases exacerbated by gatherings during the upcoming holiday season.
Officials in the country hardest hit by the virus in Africa are struggling to contain infections after an outbreak was reported in the impoverished Eastern Cape Province and adjacent Western Cape Province last month.
The national number of new daily cases rose to more than 3,000 last week, up 50% from an average of 2,000 in early November.
More than half of the increase is due to infections in the Eastern Cape and about 25% to cases in the Western Cape.
“(The) small cluster outbreaks that we are seeing … are transitory,” said Health Minister Zweli Mkhize during an emergency trip to the Eastern Cape.
“You have to do something,” he emphasized.
South Africa’s coronavirus transmission rate dropped significantly after infections peaked in July, with fewer than three daily cases detected per 100,000 people between late August and early November.
“We are not in a second wave, but in these two provinces … we are in the midst of a resurgence,” said the government’s senior Covid-19 adviser, Salim Abdool Karim.
If the new outbreaks are not contained, he warned, it would be “only a matter of time” before the rebound hits the entire country.
Hospitals in Port Elizabeth, the largest city in the Eastern Cape, are already struggling, although local government officials insist they are.
Doctors still recovering from the first wave have asked the international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to help them in three main public facilities.
“In fact, hospitals are overwhelmed with much higher numbers of patients … some say even more than in July,” said MSF doctor Colin Pfaff, the project’s medical response coordinator in the province.
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“Facilities are struggling with understaffing,” he added, blaming “chronic deficiencies” and coronavirus infections among healthcare workers.
Private facilities are feeling the rush, too.
“Our hospitals in the Eastern Cape are incredibly full right now,” Richard Friedland, director of South Africa’s leading private healthcare provider Netcare, told AFP.
More beds are being added, “so we still have the capacity to handle cases,” he added.
While the provincial government insists that hospitals are not “full” or “overflowing,” the national medical association this week accused the health ministry of not adequately supporting “overworked” staff.
In the Western Cape, authorities are considering specific restrictions.
“We must first do everything possible, through our individual and collective action to ensure that the resurgence is reversed,” said Western Cape Prime Minister Alan Winde.
The coronavirus has infected more than 792,000 people in South Africa and killed more than 21,600 despite months of strict movement restrictions.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has ruled out a second lockdown for now.
The first national shutdown earlier this year severely affected Africa’s most industrialized economy, putting at least 2.2 million out of work.
Nationally, there is pressure to control new infections before the end of the year holidays, when millions of people cross the provinces to spend Christmas with family and friends.
Italy slows down Christmas travel to avoid virus ‘third wave’
Italy has announced national travel restrictions for the Christmas holidays designed to limit the spread of Covid-19 in the European country first hit by the pandemic.
The new rules, along with an existing curfew and other regulations already in place, seek to curb circulation throughout the country during the holiday period by limiting the number of gatherings.
Earlier this year, a punishing lockdown of Italy’s 60 million residents helped control the outbreak, but the government is trying to avoid mistakes made during the summer after the lockdown was lifted, when the return of vacationers spurred a further increase in cases.
“If we let our guard down now, the third wave is just around the corner,” Health Minister Roberto Speranza told parliament.
Travel between the regions of Italy will be prohibited from December 21 to January 6, and people will not be able to travel outside their own cities on December 25, 26 and January 1.
The decree includes the “strong recommendation” to avoid welcoming those who do not live together.
Other regulations to be signed later today are expected to impose a ten-day quarantine for those arriving in Italy from foreign countries, starting on December 20.
The measure is designed in part to prevent Italians from traveling to the ski slopes that are still open in neighboring EU countries.
The government is expected to maintain a color-coded risk-based system that imposes different levels of anti-coronavirus restrictions in different regions.
Bars and restaurants are expected to remain closed in the red or orange zone regions. A current 6:00 pm closure may remain in the yellow zones, as well as a 10 pm curfew
In the yellow zones, where restaurants are open but must close at 6 p.m., the government is debating whether to allow restaurants to serve lunch on Christmas Day and December 26.
Ski slopes are expected to be banned, as are cruises.
The Ministry of Health reported 20,709 new cases and 684 deaths yesterday, bringing the cumulative figure to more than 1.6 million infections.
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