As South Africa finally begins its mass Covid-19 vaccination programme, the country’s economic recovery faces a double-blow due to rising Covid-19 cases and the return of power cuts, say economists from the Bureau for Economic Research (BER).<\/p>\n
Domestically, the key development over the last week is a continued rise in Covid-19 infections, the BER said.<\/p>\n
While the country has not officially entered into a third Covid-19 wave, the BER said that the country will now be entering a period of caution as the Covid-19 cases continue to rise.<\/p>\n
“Depending on how much further the upward trend in new cases goes, and importantly government\u2019s response to it, this has the potential to interrupt the domestic economic recovery,” it said.<\/p>\n
“Even if government decides not to impose major new restrictions on movement or activity in certain sectors, consumer and firm behaviour is likely to turn more cautious in the event of an outright likely third wave.<\/p>\n
“For some time, we have been flagging this as a key factor that could cap the magnitude of the projected 2021 real GDP bounce in South Africa.”<\/p>\n
South Africa on Sunday recorded 2,585 new Covid-19 cases after 27,543 tests were conducted, representing a 9.4% positivity rate.<\/p>\n
Health minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, announced that 27 patients succumbed to Covid-19 on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 55,210 to date.<\/p>\n
Of the latest fatalities, 10 are from Gauteng, six from Mpumalanga, five from KwaZulu-Natal, three from the Western Cape, two from the Free State and one from the Northern Cape.<\/p>\n
The country has 34,166 active cases. With 7,671 people who are currently infected in Gauteng, the province is now the hardest hit in terms of active cases.<\/p>\n