Faizel Patel – 29/06/2021
The chair of Gauteng Premier David Makhura’s advisory Committee says that while she agrees with experts that the level four lockdown had come a tad too late, there will be fewer infections after the province peaks and when the new regulations take effect.
The Delta variant, which is the deadly COVID-19 variant that turned India into a wasteland of sick and dying people, has Gauteng firmly in its grip.
It is hoped that the Level 4 lockdown regulations as announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week will be enough to stop the spread of the virus.
Speaking to Radio Islam, Dr Mary Kawonga says lockdown level four measures will put less pressure on the hospitals after the third wave peaks in Gauteng.
“What we tend to observe usually after the cases peak for another two, three, sometimes up to four weeks there is continuing pressure on the hospitals, so I think it will help with that. The other thing it will help with is by cutting down on gatherings. There’s less contact between people. Hopefully it will reduce transmissions and spread of the Delta virus and we will start seeing the cases reducing.”
Kawonga says it is unclear if the two weeks of level four lockdown measures may be enough to contain the Delta variant because there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the new variant.
“Currently there is a lot of uncertainty, but our modellers are busy working and once there is a recalibrated model we’ll have a better sense of what we expect to see in the weeks to come. I think the idea of having two weeks of no gatherings is almost like a break just to break some of the rapid transmission patterns we’ve been seeing.”
Kawonga says because the Delta variant is more contagious, there is a more rapid increase in case numbers over a short period time which results in more hospitalizations putting pressure on the healthcare system.
Listen to the interview with Dr Mary Kawonga
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