Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has announced the latest coronavirus figures in South Africa, reporting 143 new cases, taking the total up to 2,415.<\/p>\n
This is up from 2,272 cases reported on Monday.<\/p>\n
Gauteng remains the province with the most cases, now up to 909. This is followed by the Western Cape with 643 cases, and KZN with 489 cases.<\/p>\n
The provincial breakdown is as follows:<\/p>\n
87,022 tests have been conducted, Mkhize said.<\/p>\n
Globally, the number of confirmed cases is approaching the 2 million mark, with the current total at 1,940,650.<\/p>\n
There have been 120,916 deaths to date, while 459,986 people have recovered.<\/p>\n
Despite this, 1,359,748 cases remain active, with 51,065 people remaining in serious or critical condition.<\/p>\n
Epidemiologist and infectious diseases specialist, professor Salim Abdool Karim, warned this week that South Africa should prepare itself for exponential growth in confirmed cases over the next few months – and for the lockdown to possibly be extended, depending on how daily infections are recorded.<\/p>\n
If the average number of daily infections (minus numbers discovered by active testing) is higher than 90, the lockdown will have to remain in place. However, if the numbers drop below 45, the lockdown can be eased.<\/p>\n
Karim, who is heading up the country\u2019s response to the Covid-19 outbreak, noted that South Africa\u2019s infection rate is unique, bucking all of the trends seen elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Initially, South Africa\u2019s infection rate was expected to grow exponentially, as has been the case in many European countries, and the US. However, it has instead begun to flatten out much sooner than anticipated.<\/p>\n
Plotting a graph of the infection rates, South Africa\u2019s pattern follows more closely to Asian countries including South Korea, where new infections have also begun to plateau.<\/p>\n
The reason for this is likely South Africa\u2019s very swift response to the outbreak, the professor said, where a state of disaster, and subsequent lockdown was implemented early.<\/p>\n
However, the professor stressed that this does not mean that South Africa is winning the war against the virus, nor does it mean the country will be spared totally.<\/p>\n
According to Karim, the lockdown has bought the country some time \u2013 four to six weeks. Community transmission has been curtailed and the peak case load will likely be reduced (flattening of the curve).<\/p>\n
However, the exponential curve is almost inevitable, he said, and South Africa\u2019s lockdown cannot end abruptly.<\/p>\n