​Rofhiwa Marubini 
Gauteng is now the epicentre of COVID-19 in South Africa with 5 651 active cases of COVID-19, followed by KwaZulu-Natal with 5 591 and the Free State with 4 984. 
This was announced by Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize on Wednesday evening, who further said that there is an additional 71 deaths related to Coronavirus, bringing the tally to 54 896.
In a statement, the National Department of Health, said it is working with provinces to update their resurgence plans to ensure that these are activated.
These plans mainly include case management, contact tracing, oxygen availability, bed capacity, respiratory support equipment and human resources.
"As the country, we are on high alert, and we know that the main drivers of the new wave will either be the resurgence of new variants and/or the fatigue from adherence to non-pharmaceutical interventions," said department. 
In addition, the department said it was also working closely with the genomic sequencing team to ensure they can pick up new variants earlier.
It further noted that though the third wave was not here yet, but it was imminent if the numbers continue to rise.
"We want to assure South Africans that we have not yet hit the third wave however we are at risk, hence we need to be on heightened vigilance as a country, the department said.
South Africa's COVID-19 cases have crossed the 1.6 million mark.