Staff Reporter
At least 225 people were reportedly in hospital in the Free State with COVID-19-related ailments as the country reached a million cases of the disease on Sunday.
Information compiled by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the national health department indicated that the province had 29 people under intensive care and 20 on ventilators.
The province had the second lowest daily increase in the country yesterday when it recorded 86 new cases while the Northern Cape had 79.
KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape had the highest daily increases at 3 403 and 2 659 respectively.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize issued a stern warning on Monday when he spoke to the SABC that the new strain could be more troublesome than the one experienced during the first wave of the pandemic.
“In many countries, this wave has been more severe than the first one,” said Mkhize.
“Right now, we are in the middle of it. It is important for people to take this seriously. It started with the Eastern Cape then Western Cape, now KZN and Gauteng following suit,” he added.
The minister expressed concern that some people were not adhering to the COVID-19 protocols and were meeting in crowded places, having parties and not wearing their masks.
“These are things that worsen the situation. Anyone who says COVID-19 is not a serious issue are those who have not come into contact with someone who has had the virus,” said a concerned Mkhize.
South Africa now has a total of 1 004 413 cumulative cases of the acute respiratory disease.
This after 9 502 new cases were recorded within a day in across the country.
About 132 728 cases remain active after 844 874 people recovered.
However, there have been 26 811 deaths.
In terms of admissions, about 10 740 people are currently in hospital nationally with 1 265 in the intensive care unit and 486 on ventilators.
The Free State now has a cumulative total of 61 771 COVID-19 cases with 5 162 remaining active.
About 54 457 people have recovered and 2 152 have succumbed to the disease.
There is growing speculation that the country might be put under more restrictions to curb the rapid spread of the disease.
The minister has however neither confirmed nor denied any such plans, simply saying: “One cannot speculate on the restrictions that will now be put in place.”
Meanwhile, the provincial health department says a total of 92 babies were born on Christmas Day across the province with 43 of them being girls while 49 were boys.