Covid-19 cases show an increase over the past week
With Covid-19 cases on a slight rise over the past week, the focus is on the nation’s vaccination campaign, with government urging all eligible individuals above the age of 12 to get their jabs.
Covid-19 cases in South Africa have shown an increase over the past week, bringing attention to the looming fourth wave.
Earlier this week, the Minister of Education in the Western Cape, Debbie Schäfer appealed to all matric learners to carefully consider the risks of attending matric rage and other social events at this time.
“Unfortunately, many of these events take place during the matric exams, rather than after them. This creates a very real risk that a learner might get Covid-19 and miss some of their final exams if they become very ill,” stated Minister Schäfer.
She urged learners and their parents to consider whether these social events were worth the risk.
Covid-19 vaccination campaign
More than 250 000 children between the ages of 12 and 17 have been vaccinated since October.
Meanwhile, 24 471 210 vaccine shots have been administered since the start of the inoculation programme.
Over the past 20 months, the tourism, arts and culture, and hospitality industries have been the hardest hit by all the Covid-19 lockdowns – more than 165 000 people in these industries have lost their jobs and more than 1 000 restaurants have closed down.
As a way to work towards reviving these industries, the Restaurant Association of South Africa (Rasa), in partnership with the South African Breweries (SAB) and Gauteng Tourism, launched a vaccination drive for the restaurant industry in Sandton from Monday to Wednesday this week.
The National Department of Health has reported 585 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases in the country to 2 927 499.
This increase represents a 1.7% positivity rate.
A further 40 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 89 555.
There has been an increase in 33 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
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