Mkhize concerned over shortage of testing kits
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has told the National Council of Provinces that a shortage of Covid-19 testing kits is one of the biggest challenges facing the country.
Mkhize briefed members of the NCOP on Tuesday.
He said while the lockdown managed to slow down the rate of Covid-19 infections, South Africans need to understand that the country is battling a much bigger outbreak than before the lockdown.
On Monday, his department confirmed over 23 000 positive cases, with over 15 000 cases in the Western Cape.
"We believe we have been able to flatten the curve for the first part, we need to understand that flattening the curve is an everyday event, it is not once-off and if we lose focus, the curve will spiral up again," said Mkhize.
ALSO READ: SAMRC drops probe into Glenda Gray lockdown criticism
With the country’s borders still closed, Mkhize said South African has to battle internal infections.
He said one of the biggest challenges is the backlog of test kits.
"The decline in tests is caused by the world shortage of supplies in test kits. We a running into difficulty with various suppliers not being able to meet our demand. The whole world is scrambling to get the laboratory kits and we are only being squeezed in now."
Mkhize said another challenge is contact tracing in both the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape, which has the potential to spread the virus further.
Listen here: