Don’t Panic About Indian COVID-19 Variant – Mkhize

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says tracing teams haven’t found anyone coming to South Africa from India with the COVID-19 strain currently wreaking havoc in that country.

The minister says there’s no need for panic.

India has recently become the world’s new COVID-19 epicentre, recording hundreds of thousands of new infections and thousands of deaths daily.

The NICD have however noted a trend of increasing numbers of detected cases in a number of districts. Free State, Gauteng, Northern Cape and North West are of particular concern but every province, with the notable exception of Eastern Cape, has at least one district of concern.

The districts that have been flagged by NICD as “under observation,” due to an appreciable rise in the 14 day average percent change, are listed below. Although some of these districts may have relatively low case incidences, the significant rise in percentage changes should be taken as a serious warning.