[imagesource: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp]

We’re all really sick and tired of hearing about COVID-19, but sadly the battle is far from over.

Across Europe, many countries have returned to hard lockdown measures to curb the spread of the virus, and things are really spiralling in the US.

Thus far, South Africa has avoided a similar situation, although we are seeing a marked increase in confirmed cases around the country.

The latest figures, released last night by the Department of Health, show that there have been 772 252 confirmed cases, of which 34 725 are considered active, with 21 083 confirmed deaths.

Our death toll is the 14th highest in the world.

In the Western Cape specifically, there are worrying signs, and yesterday the Western Cape Health Department’s chief of operations, Dr. Saadiq Kariem, spoke with CapeTalk’s Kieno Kammies.

He said that in addition to increased hospitalisations, the daily COVID-19 deaths and test positivity rate are also climbing.

With Black Friday shoppers expected to be out in force later this week, and then festive season gatherings following that, Kariem has stressed that caution is still advised:

What we have noticed in these cluster outbreaks is this huge complacency that has crept in. Maybe it’s Covid-19 fatigue, but our people have just become so complacent. That is a potentially explosive situation…

We are extremely worried about the Garden Route… but we are also seeing an increase in active cases and new cases across the metropole.

George, Knysna, and Bitou are areas of particular concern, but residents across the province have been warned.

It’s worth listening to the interview in full. As I mentioned, we’re tired of this bloody pandemic, but the sooner we get a handle on things, the sooner life returns to some semblance of normality.

[source:capetalk]