Gauteng ‘cautiously optimistic’ despite high number of Covid-19 cases

There are high chances that President Cyril Ramaphosa may extend the duration of alert level three of the national lockdown in the next “family meeting”, even though there are signs that Covid-19 infections are declining.

This was indicated on Friday during the Gauteng provincial command council (PCC) update on the Covid-19 status of the province.

“We can confirm that the trajectory has been sustained and gone down to low numbers before further decisions are made about adjusting public health and social measure,” said member of the premier’s Covid-19 advisory council, Dr Mary Kawonga.

“The pandemic is on a downward trajectory. This suggests that there is a positive impact of the adjusted level three.”

“We are cautiously optimistic because the second wave is not over yet. We are still seeing a high number of deaths, a high number of cases and excess deaths are still high even though we have seen an early dip,” Kawonga said.

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The PCC indicated that based on surveillance, there had been a significant decrease in the number of cases, with this happening earlier than expected.

Hospital admissions remained high but the number of deaths had decreased, while Alexander and Tembisa continue to be among the hotspots.

According to the advisory council, the risk index needed to be below 10 in order to reduce the possibility of a resurgence, which can result in the third wave.

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— GautengGov (@GautengProvince) January 29, 2021

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