South Africa, the worst virus-hit country within the continent, on Monday crossed the edge of 60,000 coronavirus deaths, health officials announced, each day after a stricter lockdown was enforced.
“A further 138 covid-19 related deaths are reported, bringing total fatalities to 60,038 so far,” the National Institute for Communicable Diseases tweeted on Monday.
At least 512 new hospital admissions were reported on Monday, pushing the entire number of hospitalized people to 11,801.
“The condition of the patient is such a lot worse,” than the primary two waves, Elsabe Conradie, chief executive and doctor at eMalahleni Private Hospital east of Johannesburg told AFP Monday.
“They get much, much sicker than many of them never leave the hospital,” she said.
The health authority said 12,222 new cases had been recorded over the last 24 hours — 28.3 percent of these tested.
Gauteng province — home to the executive capital Pretoria and financial hub Johannesburg — is that the outbreak´s current epicenter, accounting for around 69 percent of the newest daily increase.
Government and scientists at the weekend announced that the highly contagious Delta variant was driving the surge in South African Covid-19 infections, which is testing the capacity of hospitals.
To curb the spread, President Cyril Ramaphosa reimposed restrictions for 2 weeks from Monday, banning all gatherings apart from funerals where numbers are going to be capped at 50 people.
With rising caseloads and a sluggish vaccine rollout, South Africa is experiencing the 3rd wave with new daily cases doubling over the past fortnight.
The country´s vaccination drive has been slow. Around 2.7 million of its 59 million people are immunized since February, but Ramaphosa has said the inoculation exercise is gaining momentum
