Gauteng officially reaches fourth wave, says Health minister
Over 4 million people in Gauteng have been fully vaccinated so far.
WEB_PRE AND NEWSPAPERS
Minister of Health Dr Joe Phaahla said that Gauteng has officially reached the peak of the fourth wave of Covid-19.
Speaking during his visit at the Zwartkops Drive-thru vaccination site on Wednesday, Phaahla urged members of the public to get vaccinated during the December holidays.
“It is very good timing for this drive-thru to re-open as we all know that the fourth wave is here. The fourth wave broke out here in Tshwane and moved to other parts of Gauteng and the rest of the country,” he said.
Phaahla said Gauteng has reached its peak in terms of Covid-19 infections during the fourth wave.
“We believe we have probably reached the peak in Gauteng in terms of infections, and we hope the numbers won’t rise,” he said.
“Cases in other provinces have been rising in the past few days. KZN hit over 5 000 cases on Tuesday, Western Cape over 3 000 and there’s also a rise in the Eastern Cape.
“We are pleased that the hospitals are not full. On average, Covid patients are spending 4-5 days in hospitals compared to weeks during previous waves,” he said.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura said over 4 million people in Gauteng were fully vaccinated so far.
“We have reached a milestone. So far, 4 million have been fully vaccinated while 700 000 are still waiting to get their second jab,” Makhura added.
“We need to get more people to vaccinate and we will continue to get the message out.”
Makhura also urged people not to let their guard down.
“It has been established that the new variant is less severe than the Delta variant but we want to warn people to not take this lightly. The virus can be contained if people get vaccinated.”
He said vaccination sites would be placed on the side of the roads during the holidays to assist those travelling to different provinces.
On Wednesday afternoon, close to 200 people were vaccinated at the Zwartkops Drive-thru vaccination site with the majority of them having already gotten the first jab.
WATCH VIDEO HERE:
sl / jo
