Faizel Patel – 26/06/2021
As the country battles the third wave of the Coronavirus and the rapid rise in cases especially in Gauteng, the health ministry has announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation on the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The 8 pm address on Sunday by Ramaphosa follows a special National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) meeting convened on Saturday to receive a report from the scientists on the prevalence of the Delta variant in South Africa.
In the last 24 hours, South Africa recorded just over 18,700 infections while the country has seen 215 COVID-19 related deaths, bringing the death toll to 59,621.
Gauteng accounts for just under 12,000 of those cases.
Acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane subsequently briefed the media about the Delta variant on Saturday.
Director of research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Tulio De Oliveira said the variant appears to be dominating the new infections recorded in the country.
“This is the variant that caused, initially, a massive epidemic in India and seems to increase very fast in frequency and dominating the infections in South Africa.”
Preliminary data and studies suggest the Delta variant may be significantly more transmissible than others, including the Beta variant that has dominated in South Africa until now.
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