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The Eastern Cape Government has declared Nelson Mandela Bay a Covid-19 High-Risk Zone.
Premier Lubabalo Mabuyane told the media in Bhisho on Tuesday that a cross-functional team would be deployed to the Metro.
The team will provide intense support for 14 days in the area to strengthen the enforcement of level 2 NPI measures.
“The team will provide support to enhance the preparedness and response of the Department of Health to mitigate the impact of the third wave at hospitals and clinics in the Nelson Mandela and Sarah Baartman District,” said the Premier.
He added that in the latest 24 hour reporting period, there had been one fatality and 44 new Covid-19 cases in the Eastern Cape, bringing the death toll in the province to 11 673.
Premier Mabuyane said that there had been a 59.6 % increase in active Covid-19 cases in the past seven days.
He said the SA Modelling Consortium estimates that the 3rd wave can be expected from between the 14th of June and the 17th of July onwards but that it will likely be lower than the second wave.
While the Premier urged people not to panic, he re-iterated that everyone should be taking extra precautionary measures to avoid transmission of the virus.
“They must play their part, again, which is adhering to the Covid-19 regulations. We have used the two-month lull in new infections between March and the end of May to fine-tune our Resurgence Management Plan to contain the 3rd wave."
Premier Mabuyane said the province was ready for the 3rd wave and had identified eight critical focus areas for resurgence management. “We can assure the people of our province that we are in a strong position in ensuring bed availability, PPE supplies, availability of medicines, provision of essential equipment and measures to track and monitor resurgence indicators.”
He added that one of the government’s strategies includes ensuring heightened support for mass vaccination.
He said the number of vaccinated people would undoubtedly increase as the Eastern Cape had received 76 000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the past week and was expecting to receive another 76 000 doses this week.
Meanwhile, the SA Medical Association (SAMA) has called for tighter lockdown restrictions now, as parts of the country brace for the third wave of Covid-19.
SAMA says to mitigate the spread of the virus, lockdown measures need to be tightened and we need a stricter curfew, especially over weekends.
