With the Covid-19 third wave threatening to engulf Gauteng, SA’s most populous province and its economic power house, a potential tightening of restrictions towards levels seen in 2020 is on the agenda as the government prepares to meet with its scientific advisers and experts.
The possibility of recommending severe restrictions similar to what was imposed with the country on the highest levels of the lockdown — four and five — will be on the agenda when Gauteng’s provincial command council meets on Tuesday. Nationally, the interministerial committee is meeting on Thursday to consider the government’s response after experts told it that their "worst-case scenario" had materialised.
On Sunday, Gauteng recorded 8,640 new infections, its highest yet, and premier David Makhura said the province could run out of beds in seven days.
Cabinet decided to impose light restrictions last week, opting against a proposal by the national command council, the body of cabinet ministers set up to consider advice from experts and advise the cabinet, for stronger measures including a total ban on alcohol for a few days.
After shutting down the economy in 2020, pushing SA into its deepest economic slump in a century and sacrificing more than 1-million jobs, the government has sought to be more pragmatic with recent waves of the pandemic. It is also struggling with a fiscal position that means it does not have resources to support businesses that are forced to shut or workers who lose their wages.
Makhura, who is on record calling for extraordinary measures to be imposed on Gauteng, said the health-care system was under "tremendous pressure".
The overwhelming majority of all new Covid-19 cases in the country are being recorded in Gauteng, with 60% and 80% of Covid wards at public and private hospitals, respectively, full.
Adam Barnes, a Johannesburg private emergency-room doctor, said the situation was a nightmare compared with last year. "Emergency rooms are swamped. While we have enough oxygen, we are running out of oxygen ports and concentrators. We fear by next week, when the third wave’s peak is expected to hit, there will be a total patient onslaught."
While politicians and their advisers have blamed the new wave on people not adhering to health protocols, it also comes at a time when the government has come under criticism for a slow vaccination programme that has left most of the population exposed in the build-up to winter. SA has inoculated just over 2-million of its 60-million people, making it a laggard even among similar sized economies.
"Every two days there are beds that are filling up in our hospitals. If we have 100 beds today, there is no guarantee we will have them at the end of 48 hours," Makhura said.
He was speaking at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, where he and health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi welcomed a contingent from the SA National Defence Force’s Military Health Services, who will assist with Covid-19 medical support.
With Gauteng registering 66 out of every 100 new Covid-19 infections, only those deemed to be serious are admitted in hospitals. Wards in private institutions, in particular, are bulging to the point of having to expand intensive care units.
Makhura said he spoke to Netcare Group CEO Richard Friedland on Sunday. "He said to me private health institutions are full. He said the issue of additional staffing is a challenge."
The province could do more with more health-care workers, the premier said. He was not happy that Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, which was gutted by a fire in April, is still closed, noting however that all its staff had been deployed to different health-care facilities across the province. He said there were no health workers sitting at home.
Mediclinic Southern Africa chief clinical officer Gerrit de Villiers told Business Day on Monday there was a "very strong demand for hospital beds", particularly in Gauteng, Free State and the Northern Cape. He said bed capacity remained "fluid and this dynamic situation is continuously monitored and addressed".
With TimesLive
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