One of the country’s top scientists, Professor Shabir Madhi on Friday said they started on Monday by visiting households in the province to determine how widespread the virus is.
FILE: A City of Tshwane Health official takes a nasal swab to test for the COVID-19 coronavirus on a taxi operator at the Bloed Street Mall in Pretoria Central Business District, on 11 June 2020. Picture: AFP
JOHANNESBURG – With an increase in new daily COVID-19 cases in South Africa, a survey is focusing on Gauteng to randomly sample different households to determine the extent of infections.
One of the country’s top scientists, Professor Shabir Madhi said they started on Monday by visiting households in the province to determine how widespread the virus is.
Madhi believed the number of daily infections could rise even further in the coming weeks as the festive season kicked off.
“We’ll probably start seeing even a further increase in terms of transmissions. And probably early in the first quarter of next year, we will probably see a significant resurgence. But in all likelihood my estimate is that is the resurgence will probably be less severe than what we experienced this time of round,” he said.
The Department of Health on Thursday recorded 2,056 COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of known cases in the country since the outbreak began to 721, 770.
According to the department, 53 more coronavirus deaths were recorded, pushing the country’s death toll to 19,164.
The recovery rate is holding steady at 90% with 649,935 people having recuperated so far.
#COVID19 Statistics in SA as at 29 October.
Use the COVID Alert SA app to protect yourself, your loved ones and your community. Start using this privacy preserving app today. Add your phone to the fight! Download the Covid Alert SA app now! https://t.co/8YKEqaiiRF pic.twitter.com/92rRuLuiyD
Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) October 29, 2020
