Gauteng Covid-19 cases increase flagged as an indicator of the early phase of the third wave

The Gauteng government was confident it was prepared for an anticipated Covid-19 third wave while warning against the slight but consistent increase in Covid-19 new infections.

A slight increase in Covid-19 cases was flagged as a grave concern during the Gauteng Provincial Command Council (PCC) on Friday.

Premier’s Advisory Council (PAC) chairperson, Dr Mary Kawonga, said the province had a seven-day rolling spike in new cases but has not yet reached the third wave threshold but the increase in infections was worrisome.

“Thursday last week we were sitting at just under 300 cases but this week we were double than what we were seating at 688 new cases. That is worrying us because it shows the numbers are higher than what we have been seeing.”

Kawonga said although all districts in the province recorded higher cases this past week, Emfuleni was the most worrying area as it had the highest new cases in the past three weeks.

Tshwane region three, which consists of areas like Atteridgeville, Laudium, Pretoria CBD, Hercules, Danville, Saulsville, Lotus and Pretoria West, was part of regions that recorded slightly higher cases over the past two weeks.

At the backdrop of this, Kawonga said the department noted a lack of adherence to Covid-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions in communities.

With infections increasing amid lack of adherence, Kawonga described it as “a recipe for a bigger number of cases and could attribute to a build-up of the third wave”.

Gauteng Premier’s Advisory Committee Professor Bruce Mellado flagged an increase in mobility in the province to be close to the level it was just before the second wave which hit the province last year December and early this year.

“This is concerning as mobility attributes to the number of transmissions. With high mobility, we have all the elements for a resurgence (high cases)”

Risk index used to indicate potential infection hotspots showed that while Tshwane had relatively low cases, the risk of it being a hotspot started to increase as parts of the region noted an increase in infections this past week.

Wits Health Sciences dean, Professor Shabir Madhi, predicted that the province might hit the third wave threshold in about three weeks’ time.

Madhi said they expected that the third wave would be less severe than previous waves in absence of a new virus variant.

The researchers alongside the government urged the public to adhere to wearing masks and social distancing. They warned against large social gatherings as a potential spike to infection resurgence.

Gauteng David Makhura said the steady notable increase in the number of Covid-19 infections was an indicator of an early phase of the third wave.
According to the Gauteng stats from 30 April – 6 May, 3 381 new cases were recorded.

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Makhura was, however, confident that his government was in a better position than last year May to fight against a resurgence in Covid-19 infections.

“We are ready to fight the pandemic, but we will never be fully ready without the support of the people in our province.”

While the department strengthens the vaccination programme, he said they would also continue testing and tracing infections.

“We have about 4 564 beds available for Covid-19 infections throughout the province which included (including 150 beds at newly opened Bronkhorstspruit hospital).”

Completion of 150 beds at Dr George Mukhari academic hospital (DGMAH) was expected by 31 May.

With over 5 000 employees appointed staff for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, Makhura believed that they had the work force needed to fight possible infection resurgence.

He added that the availability of oxygen was also in a good position.

Makhura said modelling studies show that regions such as Tshwane that did not have a considerable number of people infected during previous infection waves were likely to record high cases during the anticipated third wave.

Makhura said the government’s goal was to vaccinate people aged 60 and those with comorbidities to eliminate deaths caused by infection in the high risk groups.

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