Health department says Tzaneen is on Covid-19 high alert

This is according to a statement issued by the Limpopo health department on Thursday.

According to the statement the province has recorded the highest Covid-19 numbers in 24 hours.

“During the past 24 hours, the province has recorded 1575 positive cases, which is the highest ever figure to be recorded in a reporting cycle in the province since the first case of Covid-19. This is a sharp increase from just from 900 over the previous cycle,” the statement said.

Capricorn District is said to still bear the highest figure in the province and has recorded 623 new cases. Polokwane Municipality remain on high alert.

Vhembe District has also seen a sharp increase with 408 new cases, Thulamela Municipality being a focus point followed by Mopani District with 253 new cases.

Greater Tzaneen remains on high alert in the district.

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Although Waterburg District was leading in the province at some point, their numbers are no longer increasing at an alarming rate.

The district has recorded 189 new cases. This is also the case with Sekhukhune District which has recorded only 98 new cases.

However, the department will be watching the two districts closely which are mining hubs as the mines will be resuming with activities shortly.

Health MEC Dr Phophi Ramathuba has noted these rising numbers with concern and said it is quite concerning considering that during the beginning of December, the province only recorded around 20 cases per 24 hour counting cycle.

She said these escalating figures paints a worrying picture of community members not following Covid-19 safety protocols during the recent festive season.

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“We are now paying the price of social gatherings, Christmas parties and luncheons, weddings and birthday parties which we have seen during the month of December. We have advised that any kind of gathering during the festive season was a bad idea also considering that we have people who came from other provinces coming home to attend those gatherings,” said Ramathuba.

As figures are rising exponentially, the MEC wishes to once again make a clarion call to community members to act more responsibly during this difficult period.

“As the virus attacks indiscriminately during this second wave, we need to see real behavior change from our people in order to make a real difference.”

Ramathuba said as the numbers rise, the focus now becomes the availability of hospital beds.

“Though we are seeing huge number of people coming to our hospitals due to COVID-19, our hospitals are still having enough beds for patients who need admission due to the virus,” she said.