Delivering the 44th Richard Dimbleby lecture, scheduled to be shown on the BBC on Monday, Gilbert said: This will not be the last time a virus threatens our lives and our livelihoods.
The country s National Institute for Communicable Diseases recorded another 11,125 cases in the last 24 hours - with the vast majority in epicentre Gauteng province.
Gauteng alone has seen over 1,000 hospital admissions in the past week quadrupling the figure recorded just two weeks ago (pictured: weekly hospitalisations in Gauteng per wave/variant)