File picture. Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize visits the vaccination centre in the Assembly Hall at Charlotte Maxeke hospital in Johannesburg, 8 April 2021. Picture: Neil McCartney
The Free State health department says the province is officially in a third wave of Covid-19.
“We are now in the third wave of the outbreak and have today [Friday] seen a shocking rise of infections, to 427 new cases, with 60 yet to be allocated to appropriate districts,” said spokesperson Mondli Mvambi.
Mvambi said Mangaung recorded 200 new cases, Lejweleputswa, 95, Thabo Mofutsanyana, 53, Fezile Dabi, 49, and Xhariep, 21.
The department appealed to communities to remain cautious, to avoid the spread of the virus.
It encouraged residents to play their role to prevent the health system from being overwhelmed.
“Our current ability to treat people may not last if unnecessarily stretched to the limit by non-adherence to Covid-19 measures.
“We can see that, all over the world, there is no health system able to withstand the high numbers of demand for high flow oxygen, high care and intensive care units,” Mvambi said.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the department “noticed a worrying trend of increasing numbers of detected cases in a number of districts”.
As of Friday, 7 May, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases was 1,592,626 with 2,256 new cases identified
Except for the Eastern Cape, every province had at least one district of concern, Mkhize said on Thursday.
The Free State province has encouraged 60-year-olds to register for vaccination.
Gauteng is also anticipating a potential third wave, after a notable doubling of cases.
The provincial government estimated the wave to hit in the next three weeks.
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