Spike in positive Covid cases puts more Joburg neighbourhoods on government watchlist

Areas such as the Johannesburg inner city, which became a hotspot this past week and currently has the highest number of cases in the City of Johannesburg, have been placed on government’s watchlist following the recent spike in cases all over the country.

This is according to Gauteng Premier David Makhura, who was delivering a Covid-19 update alongside the members of the provincial command council.

The premier confirmed that provincial government is watching the area closely alongside areas such as Rosebank towards the Johannesburg CBD, Mayfair, Roodeport, Florida, Northgate, Constantia, Sandton, Alexandra, Wynberg, Orange Grove which – when arranged according to their regions – have over 100 active cases per region.

According to the premier, the province is home to 14% to the active cases of the country.

Looking at the last two week period, “we’re getting more new cases daily than we used to”, said Makhura.

He added that for the first time, the number of new cases was more than the recoveries recorded.

The premier stated that over the period spanning 27 March to mid-May, the province recorded 50 daily average cases.

Furthermore, he noted that the West Rand mines contributed to the spike seen in the number of active cases in the province. As a result, the area has a high density of new/active cases.

Due to all the aforementioned facts, the number of hospitalisations in the province has doubled. There are currently 256 patients in Gauteng hospitals – five of whom are on ventilation and 36 on oxygen therapy.

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