{"id":411405,"date":"2020-06-28T07:37:45","date_gmt":"2020-06-28T05:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=411405"},"modified":"2020-06-28T07:37:45","modified_gmt":"2020-06-28T05:37:45","slug":"gauteng-is-quickly-becoming-south-africas-coronavirus-hotspot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/411405\/gauteng-is-quickly-becoming-south-africas-coronavirus-hotspot\/","title":{"rendered":"Gauteng is quickly becoming South Africa’s coronavirus hotspot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gauteng\u2019s infections have almost doubled, from 17,261 to 31,344 and the province now faces a major increase in fatalities, the Sunday Times<\/a><\/strong> reports.<\/p>\n

Citing modelling data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the paper said that Gauteng\u2019s fatalities \u2014 which reached 149 on Friday \u2014 could potentially triple every two weeks.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the data,Wits University health economist, professor Alex van den Heever, said Gauteng will reach the Western Cape\u2019s 24-hour death figure – around 50 deaths a day – within the next two weeks.<\/p>\n

He further cautioned that while Gauteng might have a smaller number of cases overall, at 1,500 daily infections, its new cases now exceed the 1,400 daily infections in the Western Cape.<\/p>\n

This was reiterated by Wits Univesity vaccinologist professor Shabir Madhi, who told the Sunday Times that within three weeks, Gauteng will match the Western Cape\u2019s current case numbers.<\/p>\n

There are also concerns that the province is not as well prepared for an influx in coronavirus cases as the Western Cape is. There are five quarantine sites in the province, while no field hospitals have been built and the shortage of beds is expected to reach 5,000 in two weeks.<\/p>\n

Record day<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Saturday (27 June), South Africa recorded<\/a><\/strong> a 24-hour record of 7,210 new cases, bringing total reported cases in the country to 131,800.<\/p>\n

Health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize also announced 73 new Covid-19 related deaths, taking the total up to 2,413, and a mortality rate of 1.8%.<\/p>\n

Recoveries across the country increased to 67,094 which translates to a recovery rate of 50.9%.<\/p>\n

A total of 1.52 million tests have been conducted to date, with 35,905 tests conducted over the past 24 hours, Dr Mkhize said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Province<\/th>\nTotal cases<\/th>\nPercentage<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Western Cape<\/td>\n59 315<\/td>\n45.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gauteng<\/td>\n34 285<\/td>\n26.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Eastern Cape<\/td>\n23 658<\/td>\n17.9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
KZN<\/td>\n7 786<\/td>\n5.9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
North West<\/td>\n3 454<\/td>\n2.6%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Free State<\/td>\n1 160<\/td>\n0.9%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mpumalanga<\/td>\n925<\/td>\n0.7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Limpopo<\/td>\n862<\/td>\n0.7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Northern Cape<\/td>\n355<\/td>\n0.3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Unknown<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n0.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Data published in a report<\/a><\/strong> from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) projects that South Africa could have 300,000 additional coronavirus cases within the next three weeks \u2013 and deaths could triple.<\/p>\n

The NICD published projections by the South African Covid-19 Modelling Consortium (SACMC) on June 12. The model projects that if testing patterns remain unchanged there may be more than 408,000 detected cases by mid-July.<\/p>\n

The cumulative number of deaths by mid-July is expected to be 7,440 (with the forecast range of 3,610 to 14,000).<\/p>\n

Gauteng and the Western Cape’s hotspots<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Western Cape still accounts for just under half of reported cases (45%) in the country.<\/p>\n

The City of Cape Town accounts for more than 44,697 total infections as of 26 June, with Tygerberg, Khayelitsha and Klipfontein making up more than half of that total.<\/p>\n

Tygerberg (7,785 cases) is currently the hardest-hit district in the city, followed by Khayelitsha (6,389 cases).<\/p>\n

The Western Cape\u2019s data from 26 June shows the areas with the most cases.<\/p>\n

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Update on the coronavirus
\n27 June 2020<\/p>\n

As of 1pm on 27 June, the Western Cape has 16 753 active cases of Covid-19, with a total of 58 925 confirmed cases and 42 172 recoveries. Statement: https:\/\/t.co\/v8xZF7bBAh<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cYTL8wd8F3<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde) June 27, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n