President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed concern over the Covid-19 infection rate in Gauteng, hinting that the government could move the current lockdown restrictions to a higher level, reports say.
Ramaphosa said he was “deeply worried”.
He was responding to questions after briefing the media during a visit to the Cape Town Port on Tuesday, June 23.
“Infections are rising and that calls on us to review where we are. We will be making an assessment,” IOL quoted Ramaphosa as saying.
South Africa moved to level 3 lockdown on Tuesday last week, introducing further restrictions around gatherings, the sale of alcohol and a tighter curfew.
President @CyrilRamaphosa is visiting the Port of Cape Town this morning – a key logistics hub that accounts for a large proportion of South Africa’s agricultural exports. President is received by Minister @MbalulaFikile, WC Premier Alan Winde & Ms Portia Derby #GrowSouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/G5Q7pbDwyT
— Presidency | South Africa ?? (@PresidencyZA) June 22, 2021
Ramaphosa said a balance needed to be struck between keeping the economy open at the expense of people’s lives, and protecting livelihoods, a News24 report said.
“The lives of people are extremely important as are their livelihoods,” said Ramaphosa.
The country is currently battling the third wave of Covid-19 infections, with numbers steadily surging in recent weeks.
Gauteng is bearing the brunt, accounting for 6 000 of the over 9 000 new cases as of Tuesday, June 22.
Ramaphosa said the premier of the nation’s most populous province and economic hub David Makhura was dealing with the challenge as best he could.
“We are involved in a very, very serious situation in relation to the pandemic in Gauteng as well as in the Western Cape.
Provincial #COVID19 update, 21/06/21 ??
• GP reporting 47 cases per 100k population per day ⚠️
• WC and MP exceed 30% of previous wave’s peaks ?
• Increase in new cases week-on-week ? :
GP +57%, WC +51%, EC +80%, KZN +42%, LP +79%, MP +64%, NW +42%#Rid1TweetsOnCovid pic.twitter.com/7lJ2dQUM5h— Ridhwaan Suliman (@rid1tweets) June 21, 2021
EWN said hospitals in the province were bursting at the seams with more than 5 000 Covid-19 patients currently admitted, a fifth of which were in ICU.
“It is too late. We have a vaccination programme that is severely stalled, so, this province is entering the third wave unvaccinated with fewer healthcare workers. And a lot of the facilities aren’t even prepared,” the report quoted Professor Francois Venter, the head of the Ezintsha Health Unit at Wits University as saying.
He said what was currently being observed in the province was nothing short of a catastrophe.
PICTURE: Twitter/@KBmanyobe
Compiled by Betha Madhomu
