In his weekly letter to the nation on Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa urged South Africans to take extra precautionary measures against the Covid-19 virus, warning that lives and livelihoods will be seriously under threat, as infections surge.

South Africa is now in the midst of a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Gauteng, by far, the hardest hit.

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Gauteng accounts for 66% of the 13 155 new cases recorded on Sunday.

“Gauteng looks small on the map. But it is home to one in five South Africans and two-fifths of our economy. As an economic hub many people travel to and from this province. We need to turn this around urgently, or lives and livelihoods will be seriously under threat,” said Ramaphosa.

He stressed that the economy also faces challenges as the virus spreads as workers have to isolate or quarantine, as people stop going out for recreation or shopping, as tourism comes to a standstill, and as workplaces spend more money to prevent infections. 

He said the climb in new cases has been extraordinarily rapid and steep over the past few weeks, with the number of daily new cases jumping from below 800 in early April to over 13 000 in the past week.

An increase more than fifteen-fold from the last low point.

“By now, we all know what we have to do to bring the rate of infection down, and we must act with great discipline to protect our people and our livelihoods. Once again, we have to avoid social gatherings of all kinds, whether for family, friends, business or recreation. We must work from home if we can. We must wear masks when other people are around and stay one and a half metres from other people whenever possible. Although we find ourselves in the middle of winter, we need to ensure good ventilation when indoors or in public transport, for instance by opening windows,” he said.

South Africans have experienced pandemics before, he remind, most notably HIV/Aids, of which the country has managed to reduce new HIV infections by more than half since 2010.

He added that controlling contagions was not only for the healthcare sector and urged individuals to take up the call to reduce infections.

VACCINE ROLL-OUT CAMPAIGN 

Ramaphosa has acknowledged that the only way the country can effectively contain the Covid-19 disease is with a large-scale vaccination roll-out. 

He said government plans to provide vaccinations for the vast majority of adults in South Africa by the end of the year, saying it is crucial that, when a person become eligible, they get the jab as soon as possible.

“Our priority in this phase is to vaccinate all five-million people over the age of 60. This week, we also plan to start vaccinating half a million educators and others in the sector since their work requires social contact and is vital for our children, our economy and our future,” explained Ramaphosa.