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The National Department of Health has moved to calm fears saying South Africa was not yet in a third wave.
The Department issued the statement on Wednesday night, hours after Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize sent an SOS to roleplayers, informing them that some parts of the country have technically entered into the next wave.
The Department said there was an increase in new cases from 8 593 in the preceding seven days (26th April – 2nd May) to 12 531 cases in the last seven days (3rd – 9th May) constituting a 46% increase.
“The 14-days comparisons also showed that the cases increased from 17 017 in the preceding 14 days to 21 124 cases in the last 14 days, an overall 24% increase.”
“All provinces showed a positive percentage increase with Northern Cape showing a 68% increase in the last 7 days followed by Gauteng at 63%, Limpopo at 47%, North West at 42%, and Western Cape at 39%,” the statement said.
The new COVID-19 related deaths increased by 18,22% in the last 7 days (3 -9 May) to 318 from 269 in the preceding 7 days (26th April – 2nd May).
However, the 14-days comparison showed the deaths decreased by 28,93% to 587 in the last 14 days compared to 826 in the preceding 14 days.
The cumulative case fatality ratio is 3,43% (54 735/1 596 595). Eastern Cape (21%), Gauteng (20%), KwaZulu-Natal (19%), and Western Cape (21%) account for 81% of all reported deaths.
The Health Department said that hospital admissions have not shown an increase.
“As much as these figures are worrying, our resurgence dashboard, which was developed by the South African Covid-19 Modelling Consortium, which is updated thrice a week, still shows that we have not as the country reached a resurgence threshold though some districts in the country are fast approaching the threshold.”
However, the Health Department said in the meantime it was working with provinces to update their resurgence plans to ensure that these are activated.
The Department said while the country was on high alert, “we want to assure South Africans that we have not yet hit the third wave however we are at risk and we hence need to be on heightened vigilance as a country.”
