SA, Gauteng not in fifth Covid -19 wave yet

SOUTH Africa and Gauteng is not yet in the fifth wave of Covid-19, says the National Department of Health.

For almost three weeks, South Africa has seen a steady rise in the number of reported cases, particularly in Gauteng, which has contributed to about 50% of reported daily cases.

Yesterday, Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla and Gauteng Department of Health officials provided insight into the rising number of cases in Gauteng and the province’s readiness for an approaching fifth wave of infections.

“We know now that this is driven by a sub-variant of Omicron. Our genomic surveillance team, led by Professor Tulio de Oliveira, have not said to us that this is a definite new variant except there are mutations in Omicron. In their view, the spike is driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 variants of Omicron,” the minister said.

Phaahla added that the various social and religious gatherings during the recent long weekends have also contributed to the spike.

“As to whether this has reached a stage where we can define it as a fifth wave, our specialists said they need to look at it further. The spike hasn’t been as rapid as the fourth wave.

“We are still not technically in the fifth wave but this week will also indicate a clear picture but so far it looks as if there is no major change and we will plateau at about 10 000 cases,” Phaahla said.

Gauteng Health Department head Dr Nomonde Nolutshungu said the department was not happy about the uptake of vaccinations but it was intensifying mobilisation for uptake.

“Given we are down two years with Covid and it’s not clear when this will end, we are working on integrating vaccine sites into the vaccination infrastructure … in the province so there is efficient utilisation of our infrastructure for vaccination,” she said.

Nolutshungu added that the department was trying to get ahead of the curve of the virus via vaccination. |