NICD: Free State experiencing third Covid wave, Gauteng and KZN ‘worrisome’
The Free State province is currently experiencing a third wave of Covid-19 infections, says the National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD).
The province currently has 4 984 active cases accounting for 5,8% of the total percentage.
"At a provincial level, the Free State province is currently experiencing a third wave," says the NICD’s acting executive director Professor Adrian Puren.
"While the Northern Cape never met the technical criterion for exiting the second wave, the province has experienced a significant resurgence in recent weeks."
Meanwhile Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West and the Western Cape are showing sustained increases.
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Puren maintains that the country has not yet crossed the national threshold for a new wave, but he warned that the increase in numbers are worrisome.
"The current trajectory is worrisome and should it continue its course, we will likely cross the threshold for a new wave in the coming weeks.
"If members of the public rapidly implement meticulous social distancing and adhere to non-pharmaceutical measures, transmission will decline and the third wave will be delayed.
"And with the vaccination of elderly people scheduled to commence next week, delaying the third wave will provide more time to vaccinate those most at risk for severe disease, and will thus save lives."
The second phase of the country's mass vaccination programme is set to begin on Monday.
This phase of the programme is set to target 17 million of the country's population.
The elderly and people living with underlying conditions are set to be first in line.
