'Gauteng's third wave is only going to get worse and interventions are too late'

Breakfast host Refilwe Moloto chats to Wits University infectious diseases specialist Prof Francois Venter about Gauteng's third wave.

• Prof Francois Venter says interventions in Gauteng are too late to reverse the third wave in the province

• The infectious diseases specialist predicts that Gauteng's third wave is going to get worse over the next month due to lagging hospitalisations

• There are reports of patients taking oxygen on chairs in casualty wards as they wait for beds

• Prof Venter says the Covid-19 MAC and vaccine advisories need to be accessible to the public so that the government can be held accountable for side stepping experts

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Infectious disease expert Professor Francois Venter says the third wave in Gauteng is likely to get worse over the next month.

Some experts believe that Gauteng could experience its peak of infections in the next two weeks.

Prof Venter, who's the Head of Ezintsha at Wits University, says Gauteng's health system is not coping and will probably face increasing pressure due to lagging hospitalisations.

He says the continued rise in hospitalisations has already led to some patients receiving oxygen while sitting chairs for two days as they wait for beds to become available.

The professor is a former member of the Ministerial Advisory Committee (MAC) on Covid-19 and he's calling for greater transparency from such advisory bodies.

He says the MAC on Covid-19 and the MAC on vaccines need to be made public to remove the "veil of secrecy" around government decision-making that has led to various missteps in the country's Covid-19 response.

It's quite bleak... the point at which we should have intervened is probably two months ago.

Prof Francois Venter, Director of Ezintsha - Wits Reproductive Health & HIV Institute

It is too late. We have a vaccination programme that is severely stalled so the province is entering this, for all intents and purposes, completely unvaccinated other than for a few healthcare workers.

Prof Francois Venter, Director of Ezintsha - Wits Reproductive Health & HIV Institute

We're hearing of two-day waits of people sitting in chairs at oxygen points... and it's only going to get worse. The hospitalisations lag by two to three weeks from the peak of infection and Gauteng is nowhere near the peak by the looks of things.

Prof Francois Venter, Director of Ezintsha - Wits Reproductive Health & HIV Institute

A lot of the actual facilities don't seem to have been prepared. We have several spanking new facilities which aren't even staffed.

Prof Francois Venter, Director of Ezintsha - Wits Reproductive Health & HIV Institute

The MEC for Health was saying they're putting in plans and implementing things. This is very late to be doing this.

Prof Francois Venter, Director of Ezintsha - Wits Reproductive Health & HIV Institute

Our [Gauteng] third wave is at least double what we've seen in the first and second waves.

Prof Francois Venter, Director of Ezintsha - Wits Reproductive Health & HIV Institute

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