Faizel Patel – 04/06/2021
Veteran health activist Dr Aslam Dasoo says the steepness of the current COVID-19 infections in South Africa is mimicking what was seen during the second wave of the pandemic in the country.
South Africa has recorded the highest number of new Coronavirus infections in over four months, with experts believing this could be the tip of the iceberg as test positivity steadily increases.
The surge in infection figures is worse in Gauteng and together with the Northern Cape, Free State and North West have officially entered a third wave of infections.
With the country recording over five-thousand cases per day over the past two days, Dr Dasoo told Radio Islam that the current wave of infections is likely to reach similar proportions during the second wave.
He says government needs to explain why the vaccination rollout is so slow.
“They have vaccinated only one million people in six months when countries like the United States are doing over two million per day is quite surprising especially for a G20 nation. I think the situation that the population faces right now is one where they have to take on the responsibility to try as a best as possible to avoid getting sick during this wave.”
Dr Dasoo says President Cyril Ramaphosa should have been more stringent on mass gatherings.
“They’ve reduced the number of people that can be in close spaces to about a hundred. That is still way to high, anything up twenty is a potential disaster. Our recommendations and my belief is has been that they should prohibit all non-essential gatherings, be it social gatherings, religious gatherings, funerals, weddings for at least the next couple of months if you want to attenuate both the scale and the extent of this upcoming wave.”
Dr Dasoo while herd immunity may not be objective right now, the aim is get as many people vaccinated as possible so that they do not become seriously ill.
Listen to the interview with Dr. Aslam Dasoo.
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