GAUTENG has entered the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with 80% of all new cases from the province.
This was said by the National Institute For Communicable Diseases’ (NICD) Dr Michelle Groome during a media briefing, following the address by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday, 28 November.
Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla and deputy health minister Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, together with a panel of scientists, further unpacked the address and presented the state of readiness to respond to the new variant, Omicron, by the government.
Epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim spoke about what scientists knew and didn’t know yet about the Omicron variant.
He clarified that its emergence was not completely surprising.
He said they were not caught with their pants down.
“We expected and prepared for a new variant and a fourth wave as far back as September,” he said.
He added that not much is known about the variant’s behaviour and how transmissible it is, for example, and those answers will come with time.
He said, though, that the scientists could extrapolate based on the mutations they have observed.
“This means that scientists can get some idea of what the likely scenarios may be, and plan around that,” he said.
Dr Groome said from what they knew about the new variant is that current infections were driven by younger age groups.
Another scientist from the NICD, Dr Waasila Jassat, said there has been an increase in hospital admissions in Gauteng in the past week.
She said the other provinces were not yet showing an increase in admissions or deaths.
“The majority of people admitted to hospital are unvaccinated,” she said.
Head of Hospital Services at the Gauteng Health Department, Dr Freddy Kgongwana, said they were ready for the fourth wave.
He said the province has 4 407 beds for the fourth wave and they were boldly secured in terms of oxygen availability.
Phaahla said there was no need to panic because they have been here before.
He said scientists were working around the clock to understand the new variant.
Phaahla said the detection of the new variant and the reaction of some of the countries has made this matter even more of a public interest to all South Africans.
“Scientists, epidemiologists and clinicians are working daily to study the virus’ characteristics and its impact on people. We can rest assured that in a matter of days and weeks our scientists will have gotten to the bottom of this,” he said.
The minister said last week Gauteng and the Western Cape were seeing early signs of the fourth wave, and the department was making sure health facilities are ready for the fourth wave.
He said: “The government is doing everything they can to ensure health facilities are ready to brace a potential surge in severe Covid cases.”
