Covid-19 cases surge to record in SA’s industrial hub

Coronavirus infections surged to a record in South Africa’s industrial hub of Gauteng, prompting warnings about hospital capacity and calls for tighter restrictions.

One in four South Africans lives in the province where Johannesburg, the country’s biggest city, and Pretoria, the capital are located. In the 24 hours to late Monday, 69% of South Africa’s 9 160 new coronavirus infections were in Gauteng, according to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases.

“At the moment the pandemic is way above where we have ever been,” David Makhura, the province’s premier, said in an interview with eNCA, a local broadcaster, on Monday. “We are 2 000 more cases a day than we were at the peak of the first and second waves.”

The crisis in South Africa’s richest area has been exacerbated by a fire that led to the closure of one of the province’s biggest hospitals, Charlotte Maxeke, in Johannesburg two months ago. A decision not to keep a field hospital open in southern Johannesburg is also adding to the shortage of beds.