Gauteng is officially in the third Covid-19 wave, Premier David Makhura said on Friday.
Makhura said new cases in the province had doubled from Monday's. The premier was speaking at the newly refurbished AngloGold Ashanti Hospital in Carletonville, West Rand.
"I must say, the bad news is that we in Gauteng are no longer just talking about the third wave is possible - we are there... I am not talking about the republic, but we in Gauteng have arrived at the third wave," the premier said at the opening.Makhura said when the provincial command council met on Tuesday, new cases were averaging more than 600.
On Thursday, the provincial Health Department announced that 1 012 new cases were recorded on Wednesday, 12 May.
Makhura said the provincial government earlier in the week said the increase in the number of cases was below the threshold for the province to be identified as being in a third wave.
But the situation had now changed. News24 reported earlier this week that the province expected a third wave to kick in within the next three weeks.Cases in the province were increasing in parts of Tshwane, Johannesburg, and Sedibeng, said Dr Mary Kawonga from the Gauteng advisory committee. Makhura added that the third wave and resurgence of Covid-19 cases should not be scary for people.
"The message to our people is we shouldn't be having any events that are taking place," Makhura said.He reiterated that events such as parties put people at risk of contracting the virus. As of Thursday, Gauteng had a total of 430 310 cases and 10 818 deaths. The national cumulative number of cases was 1 605 252, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said. Recoveries nationally were at 1 520 878, representing a recovery rate of 94,7%.
