Level 2 hopes rise as Covid-19 infections and deaths point downwards

With state of disaster extension imminent and all graphs beginning to point downwards as far as infections and deaths due to Covid-19 are reported, hopes have increased that Level 2 of the lockdown is on the cards.

It’s a fait accompli that Cabinet will today approve Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s request to extend it. Dlamini-Zuma’s spokesperson Lungi Mtshali confirmed yesterday that the matter would be tabled in Cabinet today and an announcement would be made after the meeting.

Mtshali said the extension followed the risk adjusted strategy which looked at how best to exit from the lockdown while considering infections versus the state of readiness of the healthcare system to deal with the situation. Cabinet had no option but to give the green light to Dlamini-Zuma’s request because the current monthly extension would expire on Saturday.

Also read: Covid-19 update: SA records only 2,511 new cases as recovery rate reaches 75%

The disaster is expected to be extended until 15 September in line with the monthly extension. If granted, the extension would coincide with Minister of Health Dr Zweli Mkhize’s announcement this week that the peak could have been reached by the four provinces with the highest Covid-19 infections – Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.

He said there was a general drop in the daily figures for both infections and deaths in SA. He was hopeful about the Eastern Cape and Western Cape in particular, saying at 800 positive cases reported per day, those provinces were on the downward spiral. Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal went up rapidly with between 10 00o and 11 000 daily infections this week.

KwaZulu-Natal’s situation was expected to improve in the next week. “We are not out of the woods yet, despite the current decline, because KZN’s numbers are still high,” Mkhize said. Countrywide, the number of people visiting hospitals and clinics had been decreasing in the past few weeks.

“The surge is slowly passing,” Mkhize said.

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