Gauteng Covid-19 numbers not looking good, says MEC

Gauteng health MEC Bandile Masuku gave an update on the latest measures and numbers of Covid-19 cases in the province yesterday – and the numbers are not looking good.

Comparing data from the previous week, when the province had 15 898 confirmed cases, Masuku confirmed that this week the number had increased to 26 126.

Johannesburg was still the hotspot in the province and the task team predicted that the Covid-19 peak would be around September.

Masuku said they had noticed an increasing number of mini outbreaks in some companies as more people return to work.

He said people organising parties and illegal gatherings were contributing to the spread of the virus.

Testing backlogs had been reported across the country and Masuku said the backlog in the province stood at 30 000. He said this would likely be resolved by next week with the help of private laboratories.

There were currently 67 Covid-19 patients on ventilators and 284 on oxygen in the province’s hospitals. The majority of the patients were in private hospitals.

Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi also gave an update on the situation in schools. He said there were 176 schools that had been affected by Covid-19 cases, where 58 pupils and 188 teachers tested positive.

Lesufi said the biggest issue they faced as a department was basic infrastructure such as water and electricity and they would be looking at other facilities such as churches to accommodate pupils whose schools have been vandalised. The education department would implement a rotational load due to the high number of pupils, with a certain number of them attending school on specific dates.

More grades would return on 6 July and Lesufi said that schools would be given leeway on how they would mitigate risks, admitting it would be reckless to say they were 100% ready for the reopening, as it stands.