KwaZulu-Natal is in the grip of a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the festive season around the corner the provincial government has urged all local government leaders to ensure their communities get vaccinated urgently.
The province has experienced a significant rise in infections. On Saturday, KwaZulu-Natal recorded 1,002 new cases, up from 630 on Friday. Nearly 15,000 people have died of Covid-19 since 2020 and eThekwini remains the provincial epicentre.
Addressing the media in Durban on Sunday, KwaZulu-Natal premier Sihle Zikalala attributed the rising numbers to the Omicron variant. “Three weeks ago, the province had a positivity rate of 0.7%, but as of now, the positivity rate has jumped to 12.7%. Since 26 November we started receiving more than 100 cases per day while the average number of cases received daily rose from 47 to 362.”
Further analysis of the trends shows that while there is no significant increase in the number of deaths, mortality in people over the age of 60 has risen, while there has been a notable increase in the infection rate among those aged between 30 and 50. The three leading comorbidities are still hypertension, diabetes and tuberculosis, Zikalala said.
All the markers indicate that KwaZulu-Natal has now entered the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The rate of hospitalisations has also increased, including patients who require ICU and ventilation. We can confirm that the vast majority of those patients who require treatment in ICU and ventilation are those who have not been vaccinated,” Zikalala said.
In light of the advent of the highly infectious Omicron variant, he pleaded with all citizens to get vaccinated. By Saturday, 2.6-million people in KwaZulu-Natal had been vaccinated, accounting for 36% of its population.
The province plans to target high-density areas such as taxi ranks and shopping malls and will continue with education, awareness and vaccination. It will also do compliance monitoring of non-pharmaceutical interventions such as the wearing of masks.
With the festive season approaching, Zikalala urged event organisers to put their functions on hold or put in place very strict controls to prevent gatherings from turning into superspreaders. “The disaster management regulations will be enforced and there will be no compromise on those not wearing masks or transgressing Covid-19 regulations,” he said.
“The province anticipates a busy festive tourism season and an influx of holidaymakers. As visitors start coming to our province, we urge all road users to take extra caution during this festive period because of traffic congestion.”
The province is adopting a zero-tolerance approach to crime and will deploy large numbers of security personnel at roadblocks and other key areas such as national roads, railways and ports of entry.
“We will drive special intelligence-driven operations that will be implemented in co-operation with the SA Navy Marine and Coastal Management, and special initiatives to address crime,” Zikalala said.
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