DURBAN - THE World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa on Thursday confirmed that South Africa was experiencing a Covid-19 surge.
The WHO regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, said Covid-19 cases on the African continent would soon reach the five million mark and the virus had already killed 133 000 Africans.
Moeti said, in the past seven days, 88 000 cases were reported – which was a 19% increase from the previous week.
“In the past three weeks, we have seen a sustained increase in cases, with some countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Zambia, clearly experiencing a resurgence, and a surge confirmed in South Africa,” Moeti said.
On Wednesday night, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported that South Africa recorded 8 881 new Covid-19 cases. That brought the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 1 712 939.
“The increased number of tests and cases, and increased positivity, are all evidence of the predicted third surge in Covid-19 cases, and not artefacts of data loading or increased laboratory turn-around times,” the NICD said.
On Thursday, Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni briefed the media on the outcomes of Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
One of the outcomes was that Cabinet had welcomed the progress on Covid-19 vaccinations which on Tuesday, reached 1 524 589 and the Pfizer first dose vaccinations breached the one-million mark, with 1 045 245 vaccinations conducted. Mtshavheni said this was a remarkable milestone.
In addition, more than three million people had registered on the Electronic Vaccination Data System. “This was a cause for celebration in our concerted fight against the spread of the virus.”
Moeti added that since the beginning of the year, through the Viral Facts brand, they produced more than 150 video and social media posts to debunk misinformation.
Those have been disseminated on almost 60 social media channels across the region, and have had more than 100 million views.
She said Facebook was a key partner in disseminating these messages.
Facebook Health Partnerships director Luchen Foster said they shared a mutual goal of providing accurate information, and amplifying campaigns and relevant messages.
“To date, we’ve connected more than two billion people globally, with reliable information about the pandemic,” said Foster.
“For example, we’ve worked with ministries of health in South Africa and Nigeria, to set up a WhatsApp helpline to answer questions from the public and provide accurate information and resources,” added Foster.
She said they had also developed resources like a Covid-19 Information Centre on the Facebook platform, which prominently features WHO content, so people can get on-demand accurate information in their language. The information centre is available in 189 countries, and is translated into more than 70 languages, including Swahili, Portuguese and Arabic.
Foster added that people need to be vigilant.
Since the pandemic began, they have removed more than 18 million pieces of content on Facebook and Instagram, for violating their Covid-19 and vaccine policies.
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