South Africa should know the true toll from the coronavirus pandemic within a few weeks, says the chairperson of the Covid-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee, Professor Salim Abdool Karim.<\/p>\n
In an interview with A<\/a>ssociated Press<\/strong>,<\/a><\/strong> Karim said that the official death toll from Covid-19 is more than 15,700 – but the real number is likely more than 30,000 when deaths not recorded at hospitals are taken into account.<\/p>\n He said that a nationwide survey for the presence of antibodies to the virus will hopefully show results soon.<\/p>\n In a national address on Wednesday evening (16 September) president Cyril Ramaphosa said that government will be undertaking a nationwide survey to assess the actual levels of infection within society.<\/p>\n “This survey \u2013 known as a seroprevalence survey \u2013 uses antibody tests to see if a person has been exposed to the coronavirus,” the president said.<\/p>\n “A nationwide study would allow scientists to estimate the extent of asymptomatic infections and immunity within the population as well as better understand the transmission patterns of the virus.”<\/p>\n Karim said that South Africa reached its ‘peak caseload’ in mid-July, adding that the country is now seeing substantial declines in new confirmed cases, deaths and hospitalisations.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a full cascade of indicators going consistently in the same downward direction. This gives me confidence that we are heading for a threshold of low transmission,\u201d Abdool Karim said. \u201cWe are now in a good position to relax restrictions while remaining vigilant to respond to any signs of a second surge.\u201d<\/p>\n Karim said that at its peak, South Africa saw an average of more than 12,000 new cases daily. The country is now averaging below 2,000 daily, and dropping.<\/p>\n “We should soon reach 580 new cases daily, which for our population of 58 million is considered by the World Health Organisation to be the threshold for low transmission,” he said.<\/p>\n Eased restrictions\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n This drop in cases led to Ramaphosa announcing a move to a level 1 lockdown, further easing restrictions.<\/p>\n The president said that the country has \u2018withstood the storm\u2019 in its fight against the coronavirus and that the data shows a clear downward trend in the country.<\/p>\n However, he cautioned that \u2018by any measure we are still in the midst of a deadly epidemic\u2019 and said that the most important task is ensuring that the country is not hit by a second wave of infections as is being seen internationally.<\/p>\n Some of the eased restrictions include:<\/p>\n Ramaphosa said that this will be the \u2018new normal\u2019 and that updated restrictions will be gazetted over the next few days, providing more clarity.<\/p>\n\n
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