The Gauteng Premier’s Advisory Committee has lodged an appeal to have the province placed under a hybrid version of Level 4 lockdown.
As reported by BusinessTech, experts in the committee have warned that failure to act decisively on curbing the COVID-19 infection spike may cost the province dearly when the third wave peaks in the weeks to come.
Gauteng could move to ‘hybrid’ Level 4 lockdown
According to the latest data captured by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), Gauteng leads the line with more than 588 000 total positive cases.
On Thursday alone, the province recorded a staggering 9 521 COVID-19 positive tests, about nine times more than the second-placed Western Cape (1 912 cases).
Health experts who’ve tracked the activity of Gauteng’s infection rate in the third wave suggest that the worst is yet to come and if nothing is done to halt the virus’ momentum, it could spell doom for the province’s healthcare sector.
This chart, compiled by the NICD, provides a clearer look at the seven-day moving average number of cases per province, between April and June 2021.
From what we understand, the Gauteng Premier’s Advisory Committee has acknowledged that a move to Level 5 may be a bit too late. Moreover, the strict rules could cause further harm to the country’s scuppered economic recovery efforts.
Therefore, a hybrid of Level 3 and 4 has been proposed. What this will entail has not yet been determined, according to chair of the committee Dr Mary Kawonga.
At Level 3, social and religious gatherings are still allowed at reduced capacity and alcohol sales are open until Thursday for offsite consumption and everyday of the week until 21:00 for on-site use.
The purpose of Level 4, on the other hand, is to limit community transmissions while allowing the resumption of social activity.
This fine line will be metered out in meetings scheduled to take place this weekend.
