Johannesburg – Before the national state of disaster is ended, South Africa needs to ensure there are measures in place to handle future Covid-19 waves, Health Minister Joe Phaahla said during a parliamentary debate of the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday.
“As we are exiting the fourth wave of Covid-19, everyone is eager for this pandemic to come to an end. The reality, however, is that while we have learned more about the virus, we have more weapons and the virus is seemingly getting weaker, the war is far from over,” he told MPs.
Phaahla said as President Cyril Ramaphosa stated during the Sona on Thursday last week, the country wants to get out of the disaster situation sooner than later.
In his speech, Ramaphosa said the country was ready to begin a new phase in the management of the pandemic.
“It is our intention to end the national state of disaster as soon as we have finalised other measures under the National Health Act and other legislation to contain the pandemic,” Ramaphosa told the joint sitting of parliament.
Ramaphosa said this was necessitated by the fact that about 42% of all adults and 60% of people over 50 in the country were now fully vaccinated.
Phaahla, in his address, called for patience.
He said: “A declaration of victory can lead to severe repercussions as we have seen in other countries. We want to make sure that as we exit the disaster, we have enough cautions and measures to handle the next variant and wave.
“Let us all embrace the way forward of the president when he said ‘if we all get vaccinated, continue to observe basic health measures and remain ever vigilant, we will be able to get on with our lives even with the virus in our midst’.
He continued: “There can be no better summary, the future is in our hands. Let us not politic about Covid-19, the virus does not differentiate people on party loyalty or ideology.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Health reported on Monday that the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases identified in South Africa is 3 642 905 with 1 094 new cases reported.
A total of 57 deaths were reported, bringing the total to 97 250. The cumulative number of recoveries now stands at 3 508 249 with a recovery rate of 96.3%
– SAnews.gov.za
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