​Thembisa Shologu
Premier David Makhura has appealed to Gauteng residents to comply with the COVID -19 protocols during the third wave the same way they did during the second wave.
Addressing the Provincial Command Council on Thursday, Premier Makhura said there was great level of adherence to COVID-19 protocols during the second wave and great visibility of law enforcement officers especially in places where overcrowding was prohibited.
"We are calling for stricter, targeted and localised restrictions for the next two weeks. Unless there is a drastic disruption in the current trend, we are heading for disaster.
"We are increasing law enforcement operations to ensure compliance to COVID-19 protocols in business premises, gatherings, public transport facilities, and schools.
"The surge in infections has fuelled calls for a harder lockdown in the province. If the numbers continue to increase drastically, we will have no choice but to move to higher levels to curb the spread," said Makhura.
The Premier said the pace at which the vaccination programme was implemented remained worrisome with a total of 584 458 people being vaccinated since its start.
Department of Health Acting Chief Operations Officer, Nomsa Mmope said: "The pace at which the vaccination programme in Gauteng is not moving as speedily as we would like it to be for a number of reasons. They are multifactorial, they are based on individuals themselves as well as the Electronic Vaccination Data (EVDS) System.
"We are experiencing hesitancy and reluctance from the people that we intend to vaccinate. A total of just above 584 000 have been vaccinated since the start of the vaccination programme in Gauteng and as of yesterday, those that are 60 and above that were vaccinated were just over 373 000, translating to 28% of the targeted population of 1,3 million."
Head of the Premier's Advisory Panel, Dr Mary Kawonga said since June 23, the seven-day rolling average of percentage test positivity, Gauteng was sitting at 24.1% which exceeds the peak percentage shares positivity that were reported in the second wave.
"There is a very high and increasing risk of transmission in the community, meaning that there are many more people who are positive who have not been picked up by testing.
"Gauteng is driving the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa in the third wave. This is serious, we need tighter restrictions," said Dr Kawonga.