Citizens must maintain vigilance on non-pharmaceutical interventions to prevent Covid-19 spread: South African Prez

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on citizens to remain vigilant about their Covid-19 non-pharmaceutical interventions as novel coronavirus cases in the country crossed the half-million mark.

Of the cumulative total of 5,03,290 Covid-19 cases in South Africa, 3,42,461 people have recovered and 8,153 have died, and 152,676 cases are active.

"We must maintain our vigilance until we have no more coronavirus cases in our country. If we do not do so, there is the risk of a resurgence in those areas where the virus (cases) has now begun to stabilise,” Ramaphosa said.

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"While there are promising signs, now is not the time to let down our guard. We have to continue to work together to reduce the number of new infections," he said

Ramaphosa said that after a rapid rise in infections over the last two months, the daily increase in cases appears to be stabilising, particularly in the Western Cape, Gauteng and Eastern Cape provinces.

"While it may be too soon to draw firm conclusions, this suggests that the prevention measures that South Africans have implemented are having an effect. Our recovery rate is currently around 68 per cent. Our case fatality rate – which is the number of deaths as a proportion of confirmed cases – remains at 1.6 per cent, significantly lower than the global average," the president sad.

"While South Africa has the fifth-highest number of total Covid-19 cases globally, we have only the 36th highest number of deaths as a proportion of the population," he said

Ramaphosa expressed his gratitude to health professionals and the innovative treatments they have pioneered.

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"The national lockdown succeeded in delaying the spread of the virus by more than two months, preventing a sudden and uncontrolled increase in infections in late March," he said.

“Had South Africans not acted together to prevent this outcome, our health system would have been overwhelmed in every province. This would have resulted in a dramatic loss of life,” the president said.

Ramaphosa said there had been an unprecedented mobilisation of resources to prepare the country for the inevitable increase in cases.

Conceding that some areas of the country still require additional facilities, equipment and personnel, Ramaphosa said these were being deployed in provinces still experiencing an increase in infections.

He also said that the National Ventilator Project will during August deliver 20,000 locally-produced, non-invasive ventilators to where they are most needed.

The president said that a dedicated team drawn from several institutions, led by the Biovac Institute, is also preparing to manufacture doses of a successful vaccine locally, when its made.