Gauteng has seen a major increase in COVID-19 deaths and is experiencing an average infection rate of over 1 500 cases per day, exceeding the Western Cape’s average of 1 400 new cases per day.
The Western Cape has the largest number of cases (57,941 amounting to 46% of the country’s total cases), followed by Gauteng (31,344 which is 25%) and the Eastern Cape comes in third (21,938, amounting to 18%), according to Sunday Times.
Wits University vaccinologist professor Shabir Madhi said that within three weeks, Gauteng could reach the same levels as the Western Cape’s current case numbers.
Fears over Gauteng’s potential to overtake the Western Cape in total confirmed cases have raised concerns, as experts say Gauteng is not as well prepared for the influx as the Western Cape, which could cause Gauteng to become the country’s new coronavirus hotspot.
Professor Alex van den Heever of Wits University said Gauteng is likely to reach the Western Cape’s 24-hour death figure – around 50 deaths a day – within the next two weeks, reports Business Tech.
Van den Heever based his comment on a data model from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) which stated that Gauteng’s fatalities — which reached 149 on Friday — could potentially triple every two weeks.
The City of Johannesburg accounts for the biggest portion of Gauteng’s cases (15,363).
Five quarantine sites have been built in the province, but no field hospitals have been built and within two weeks, Gauteng could have a shortage of 5 000 beds, reports My Broadband.
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