Four things you need to know about the state of Covid-19 in Gauteng right now

The state of Covid-19 in Gauteng remains a concern and the provincial government aims to double the number of vaccinations administered per day to 100,000, with a particular focus in Johannesburg. 

On Thursday, Gauteng premier David Makhura expressed concerns that the province was still seeing a large number of people not being vaccinated due to hesitancy.

He said the province will also be changing gears in its vaccination programme by assisting farmers and their employees to be vaccinated.

Here are four things you need to know about Covid-19 in Gauteng.

How many cases have been confirmed?

According to the department of health, the province has recorded 884,147 cases in total, with 17,915 deaths. It has 848,162 recoveries and 18,070 active cases. 

The province accounted for 16% of the confirmed cases reported on Thursday, a total of 14,271 nationwide. 

How many vaccines have been administered?

Makhura said the province had administered 2.1-million vaccines since the rollout began.

“Among those are those fully vaccinated, but there are also those who have had their first jab,” he said.

The province vaccinates an average of 53,000 people a day, said Makhura.

Where are the hotspots?

Some of the hotspot areas in the province include Johannesburg, Alberton, Benoni, Boksburg, Germiston, Heidelberg, Nigel, Oberholzer, Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging and Wonderboom. 

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) daily case dashboard, more females have been reported to contract the virus than males. 

Who is the government most worried about?

Makhura said people aged 60 and above and men in general were still hesitant to get vaccinated. 

“Our major concern is that we still have a lot of 60-year-olds and above who have not gone for the first jab. We know the 60-year-olds and above are vulnerable people,” he said.

Last week, the national government sent out messages urging men to get vaccinated. 

“SA calls on all SA men to register for the vaccine. Vaccination protects you, your family and loved ones,” read the message.