Covid-19: Delta variant driving an increase in deaths in the country
Nation briefed on the progress of government’s Covid-19 response and vaccine roll-out plan.
Infections, hospital admissions and deaths are on the increase, South Africans were told today (July 9) when Acting Minister of Health Mmamoloko Kubayi, Deputy Minister Dr Joe Phaahla and a panel of experts gave a Covid-19 update.
Minister Kubayi urged South Africans to comply with all non-pharmaceutical measures in place to curb the spread of the virus.
While Gauteng remains the epicentre of the third wave, there have been rising cases in the Western Cape, Limpopo, North West, and KwaZulu-Natal, all of which are following the same trajectory as Gauteng.
The Department of Health (DoH) is encouraged by the increase in the number of vaccines administered each day, with over 191 000 daily jabs recorded yesterday.
Kubayi stated that there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to ensure that all South Africans have access to vaccines.
Scientists have discovered a new variant of Covid-19, the Lambda variant, which is more transmissible than previous variants and has been recorded in 30 countries. Fortunately, there are no recorded cases in South Africa.
Prof Tulio de Oliveira from the Network for Genomic Surveillance noted that the highly transmissible Delta variant is driving South Africa’s third wave.
The reproductive number of infections are highest in the following provinces:
- Limpopo: 1.34
- KwaZulu-Natal: 1.25
- Mpumalanga: 1.21
- Western Cape: 1.19
- Gauteng: 1.08
The Delta variant is possibly twice as transmissible as other variants. Vaccines are, however, more effective against the Delta variant than the Beta variant, with the first dose protecting against hospitalisations and the second dose protecting against the onset of symptoms. The Delta variant shows a fast increase in deaths in low-coverage countries.
Western Cape Department of Health’s Dr Keith Cloete provided an update on the surge in infections in the Western Cape. The province is currently seeing an average of 2 000 cases per day, although the third wave appears to be progressing at a slightly slower rate than the second wave. The province has now exceeded the peak of its second wave.
After the ban on alcohol was implemented, the province saw a 25% decrease in trauma cases, with a decrease in weekend trauma cases of 35%. No deaths have been reported as a result of vaccines and the province has vaccinated 623 830 people to date.
Prof Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) provided an update on the registration of vaccination sites.
SAHPRA has met with a number of applicants since November 2020. See list of applicants below:
She provided the steps used to review applicants who wish to provide vaccinations:
Dr Nicholas Crisp, a deputy director-general in the DoH, provided a vaccine roll-out update. He said there are currently 2 597 vaccination sites in the country, 2 283 in the public sector and 314 in the private sector. See number of sites per province below:
The DoH set a target of 250 000 vaccinations per day by the end of next week, with a target of 300 000 vaccinations per day by the end of August. All provinces are making plans to allow for vaccinations over weekends at some of their sites.
The Ministerial Advisory Committee is expected to make recommendations to the National Coronavirus Command Council on the current lockdown measures soon.
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