COVID-19 in SA: Could Limpopo be the next hotspot?

Health officials in Limpopo have expressed concern over the rise in COVID-19 infections and have called on government to intervene, particularly by way of ensuring the provision of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE)

While the Eastern Cape and Western Cape have been flagged as hotspots for the respiratory disease, if what some doctors’ utterances are anything to go by, Limpopo may be the next province to worry about in terms of rising COVID-19 cases.

As of Tuesday, 22 December 2020, Limpopo has picked up 20 354 cases of COVID-19 and accounts for 2.2% of the national tally – in that respect, the province appears to be handling its response to the coronavirus well, but health officials aren’t entirely convinced.

Speaking to eNCA, the South African Medical Association’s (SAMA) Dr Sizeka Maweya said they are concerned and said government should provide the necessary resources.

“They are trying to stay as safe as they possibly can but unfortunately we are getting this second wave which makes us to be more cautious than before because the strain is apparently different from the previous one,” he said.

“Fortunately enough, we have never had much of a problem in this province, but in other provinces there were challenges of PPEs and we are really concerned about that but we have to extra precautions. As we speak, we are recording new COVID-19 cases amongst ourselves as well (doctors)”

COVID-19: Young people in Limpopo testing positive, says MEC

At the same time, the province’s health MEC Phophi Ramathuba also noted the rise in cases in Limpopo and attributed it particularly to the youth.

“If you look at the test results we got on Friday and Saturday, we have been registering 254 cases within 24 hours. This has never happened since July/August when we were dealing with the wave. We have seen today, we have registered in the past 24 hours, 193 cases. These are young people, when you look at how this virus behaves, it simply tells you they were infected over the weekend,” Ramathuba further said.

The MEC said the youth were taking part in large gatherings and flouting the COVID-19 guidelines. Ramathuba has called on parents to crack the whip on this.