Even as the coronavirus count has topped half a million, South Africa’s health minister Zweli Mkhize has raised concerns of a second surge of the virus saying that containment measures need not be abandoned
Through an early morning virtual briefing, Mkhize said, “We are not out of the woods yet. Until we are completely safe, we will keep reviewing restrictions and, if necessary, certain restrictions will still remain in place,”
According to Mkhize, The lingering question is whether the plateau that is observed in some provinces is due to reduced testing numbers or if indeed fewer people are becoming infected with the coronavirus.
The minister said that while the department was “cautiously optimistic”, it was still too early to make definite conclusions regarding the observed decline
As of 2 August, the number of infected healthcare workers was 24 104, with 181 fatalities recorded. This means that the national infection rate of healthcare workers stands at 5% of all confirmed cases.
“We have also kept track of the level of infection on healthcare workers globally: on 17 July, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that healthcare workers account for 10% of global infections,” Mkhize said.
The Health Minister further noted the increasing allegations by the Department of Health of healthcare workers contracting the coronavirus in the line of duty owing to lack or poor quality of personal protective equipment (PPE).
“We have even received reports that some may be dying after being infected due to the lack of sufficient PPE or due to sufficient PPE not being provided or failure or neglect by management to adhere to prescribed workplace safety protocols,” Mkhize said.
“We want to outrightly state that this cannot be tolerated,” the minister warned.
At the same time, Mkhize announced that the WHO had agreed to the government’s request for reinforcements.
