Third wave: Buckle up, say doctors

SOUTH AFRICA is officially experiencing a third wave and medical doctors are urging the public to take care and adhere to all Covid19 related regulations.

This was confirmed by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday, who announced stricter level 3 lockdown regulations.

“The massive surge in new infections means that we must again tighten restrictions on the movement of persons and gatherings,” the president said in his address to the nation.

As confirmed by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) the third wave is spreading and the citizens should brace themselves for what lies ahead.

The positivity testing rate – which is a key metric used to determine the presence of a new wave – has risen from 9% to nearly 16% during the same period, according to the institute.

The majority of new cases are from the Gauteng province (61%), followed by the Western Cape (10%) province. Both the Free State and North West provinces accounted for 6%.

With the Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital still closed and with no immediate plans to re-open the Nasrec field hospital, medical staff in Gauteng have been reported as not being able to cope with the influx.

Medical doctors have been using social media to bring awareness to the seriousness of the third wave and the overwhelmed health care system.

“Private hospitals are full. Public hospitals are nearly there too. Buckle up,” tweeted Dr Musa Mthombeni.

“I just walked into one of the hospitals I work in, the respiratory area (area where patients come to hospital with breathing issues). There are at least 50 people being treated. This isn’t a ward. This is an admission area,” he explained.

According to a study published by the NICD, the second wave of Covid-19 infections which peaked in South Africa in January was markedly more devastating than the first in 2020. At its height, cases recorded at a seven-day moving average were more than 45% higher during the second wave.

The in-hospital case fatality-risk (CFR) grew to almost 30%, with an additional mortality risk of 20% thought to be associated with the new 501Y.V2 variant.

Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng also took to social media to remind South Africans about the third wave. “Gentle reminder, we are in a third wave. This person may think they have a stomach ache meanwhile it’s actually Covid. Yes they’re wearing a mask but 5hrs in a waiting area? And this is a governance issue too. Not just a health worker issue, often busy with trauma and emergencies,” she tweeted.