We believe that within the coming days, Gauteng will emerge with the highest Covid-19 numbers

“We are seeing a rapid rise in the cumulative number of positive Covid-19 cases, indicating that, as we had expected, we are approaching a surge during the latter winter months of July and August,” health minister Zweli Mkhize, said.

Health minister Zweli Mkhize

“In addition to regular hand washing, social distancing and the correct wearing of masks at all times, early case detection, contact tracing, quarantine and isolation are the key armaments we have in our toolbox to break the cycle of infection,” Mkhize said.

We expect that all provinces will start experiencing an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases – even those with low numbers now

“Our concern is that this continues to exacerbate the risk of spread of infections in communities, especially in households where it is practically impossible to self-isolate, given the limited space.”

Complaints

“As in other provinces, carriers of coronavirus seed infection into spaces where people congregate, and so we have also seen a number of cluster outbreaks in Eastern Cape,” Mkhize said.

Masks are being abandoned or not worn properly, and there is laxity setting in around frequent hand-washing

Hotpots, he said, need reinforcements and health intervention teams will be deployed for additional capacity so that the outbreak response matches the rise in numbers.