Gauteng surges past Western Cape as SA’s Covid-19 epicentre

South Africa’s economic hub and most populous but smallest province, Gauteng, has surpassed the Western Cape as the country’s Covid-19 epicentre. It now not only has the highest proportion of active coronavirus cases, but has the most confirmed cases overall.

Gauteng has seen the most significant surge in the country over the past few weeks and now accounts for 75 015 or 33.4% of confirmed Covid-19 cases nationwide. More than 53 000 of these are active cases.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize revealed this in his daily pandemic update late on Wednesday night.

“Gauteng has now overtaken the Western Cape as the province with the highest number of cases cumulatively,” he said.

The Western Cape now has 73 292 confirmed cases, accounting for 32.6% of the national tally. Some 17 219 of these are active cases, which means the large majority are regarded as recoveries.

While the province still has the most Covid-19 related deaths, currently at 2192, the number of new infections being reported in Cape Town and the Western Cape have slowed. In fact, not only are more infections being reported in Gauteng, but the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal now too.

Mkhize reported 8 810 new confirmed cases on Wednesday night, with 3 527 of these being in Gauteng. The Eastern Cape had 1956 new cases, while KwaZulu-Natal had 1219 – just ahead of the Western Cape, with 1136 newly reported infections.

South Africa now has 224 665 confirmed Covid-19 cases, but its total number of recoveries is now 106 842.

The country’s death toll from the coronavirus now stands at 3 602, with 100 new fatalities being reported by Mkhize last night.

The past week has seen a few ominous records being broken, both in terms of virus-related deaths and new confirmed cases. On Tuesday night a record 192 deaths were reported, while twice this week more than 10 000 new daily infections were revealed. Saturday saw a record 10 853 new cases.

“We have now reached the surge. The storm that we have consistently warned South Africans about is now arriving… We are in the eye of the storm,” Mkhize said during a virtual address to parliament earlier on Wednesday.

#ZweliMkhize: South Africa is officially in the eye of the storm as cases increase drastically on a daily basis. #Parliament08July pic.twitter.com/I8ncojkimY

— Dr Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) July 8, 2020

However, he added that “it’s no longer a matter of announcing numbers of confirmed cases” as the pandemic is now hitting home.

“We are now at a point where it’s our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, close friends and comrades that are being infected. As a country and the world at large, we are now in this reality where we must live with knowing that some of us cannot even bury our loved ones because of restrictions or even because we ourselves have been exposed,” the minister said in one of his most poignant speeches yet.

“This pandemic that is attacking us globally, will cause some of us lifetime scars. It steals from us, from some lives, others jobs, others businesses. It spares no race, no gender or social class,” he added.