Nelson Mandela Bay officially hit by Covid-19 third wave

Nelson Mandela Bay is officially in the third wave of Covid-19.

This was announced by Eastern Cape health MEC Nomakhosazana Meth during a press conference on Tuesday morning.

As of July 4, the Eastern Cape had 4,769 cases, with the metro accounting for 2,728 of them. Meth said residents in the Bay were seemingly disregarding regulations.

“The Nelson Mandela Bay metro has been declared the first region that is in the third wave [in the Eastern Cape]," Meth said.

“What we’re seeing the metro we’ve seen in the first and second waves when it was declared a hotspot.

“It’s a very concerning situation because it seems our people in the region continue doing the same thing over and over again, leading to an unacceptably high number of cases,” she said.

“The rest of the province will be hit by the third wave in the next two weeks.”

Meth said the department was concerned that as of Sunday, only 584,306 people had registered for the vaccine, meaning the province would struggle to inoculate more than four million people and achieve herd immunity.

Only 379,126 people had been vaccinated in the province by Sunday.

“This is concerning because we are seeing signs of a virus that is fast running away from us, as was the case during the first and second wave in that [Bay] region.”

Meth said the Delta variant had also been detected in the metro and Sarah Baartman district .

“This Delta is the most infectious of all variants of concerns.

“The symptoms aren’t that different, but it presents a new challenge of higher rates of hospitalisation, which will put pressure on our health resources,” she said.

The ban on alcohol sales implemented under level 4 had eased the pressure on hospitals as fewer trauma cases had been treated, she said.

According to a epidemiological report, as of July, 5,397 new cases had been reported in the province, with 14 new deaths.

Meth said while the vaccine was not a cure, it gave those infected a fighting chance.

“This is why it is important for all those eligible to register and vaccinate,” she said.

“At present we have 774 private and clinic sites.

“This is not a government problem, but a societal matter than needs all of us.

“We’ve also allowed walk-ins at vaccination sites.

“As of July 4, 584,306 people have been registered and 443,476 are people 60 years old (and older).

“The [Bay] metro and Chris Hani district municipality have low registrations of the targeted people,” she said.

HeraldLIVE