A classic case of too little care, too late this is how one official summarised the findings of an audit into the high numbers of deaths that occurred in the Eastern Cape during the second wave of Covid-19 infections. Despite the sometimes angry insistence of Premier Oscar Mabuyane and his.
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Three leading professors have pleaded with the government to consider changing lockdown restrictions, in order to curtail large gatherings that accelerate the spread of COVID-19. With new variants of the disease entering the country, citizens must remain vigilant against the spread of this virus – even if that means returning to Level 3 of lockdown.
Experts ask for ‘limits on gatherings’ as a priority’
On Tuesday, both Dr. Asmal Dasoo (convenor of the Progressive Health Forum) and Alex van den Heever (chair of Social Security Systems Administration and Management Studies at Wits University) called for gatherings to be capped.
The pair believe that current limits, which can stretch to meetings of 500 people outdoors, will need to be dropped down to just TEN – to try and blunt the impact of a third coronavirus wave. As we reported last week, social gatherings – alongside restrictions on travel, land borders, and curfew hours – will be the first to change this winter.
It’s a question of ‘when’, rather than ‘if’, as we assess the potential third wave of COVID-19 in South Africa. A slow vaccine rollout, compounded by the onset of winter, is likely to fuel a resurgence in new infections. One of the key drivers for a spike in transmission are superspreader events – and experts believe they know what’ll cause the next one.
What is a superspreader event?
It’s the term given to a situation or gathering that can help COVID-19 spread like wildfire. Indoor venues with big crowds, over-capacity parties, and any gathering that packs a high-density of people into a smaller space are usually where superspreader events are traced to.
At current rates, South Africa’s vaccine rollout will take 20 years to complete: expert
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The slow rate of South Africa’s vaccine rollout, and the colder winter months ahead, will likely contribute to a third Covid-19 wave in the country, says Alex van den Heever, chair of Social Security Systems Administration and Management Studies at Wits University.
Speaking in an interview with
Cape Talk, Van den Heever said that under the current rollout strategy, in which 6,000 people a day are currently receiving their vaccines, it would take 20 years to vaccinate the whole country.
“We have to get up to over 200,000 a day, and we are quite clearly very far from that,” he said. He added that the country would not come close to vaccinating for herd immunity this year, and that it will have to prepare for a third wave over winter.