The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Monday believes there’s evidence to suggest the Eastern Cape might have reached its second peak of Covid-19 infections.

Numbers of new infections in the Western Cape, as well as Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, are still accelerating.

The national coronavirus command council (NCCC) met this weekend to decide what to do to slow the spread of the virus.

The NICD’s Professor Adrian Puren says over and above new rules, enforcing the basics remained exceptionally important.

“We’ve really tried to make sure that mask wearing and social distancing become part of our routines. But I also think it’s a matter of how we communicate because I’m afraid the vaccine is still way off.”

With expectations that tougher restrictions could be imposed in South Africa as COVID-19 infections soar, poor human behaviour is being blamed as one of the major contributors.

Professor Barry Schoub chairperson of vaccines in the ministerial advisory committee says citizens have become too complacent.

“I think the major driver of the second wave is poor human behaviour; people are getting tired. With the first wave, it was still new and people were kind of nervous of the unknown at that stage.”

The president is also expected to address the nation amid rising calls for stricter lockdown rules.

The Eastern Cape currently has 6,925 coronavirus-related death with 166,849 infections. However, the province’s infections are still not higher than those of Gauteng, Western Cape or KwaZulu-Natal.

On Sunday, the Department of Health numbers revealed the country had surpassed the million confirmed infections mark.

By Yazdaan Khan

Source:Ewn.co.za