Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla has rung off the alarm bells over a possible increase in COVID-19 infections ahead of this weekend’s final election campaigning.
Election ‘superspreaders’ feared ahead of last campaign weekend
Political parties will ramp up the ante and give it their all in the two days that remain before South Africa heads to the polls in the 2021 local government elections.
The African National Congress (ANC), Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and other political parties have large gatherings planned in different parts of the country and while a semblance of relief can be found in the fact that these events will largely take place outdoors, Dr Phaahla warned that as a country still in the throes of a COVID-19 pandemic, “we are definitely not out of the woods.”
“The numbers show that we’ve not yet experienced any spikes which can be linked to the election campaigns, but this is not yet a point of comfort,” the minister said.
With not much control over the conduct and organisation of election campaign events, the health department has left the fate of South Africa’s healthcare system in the hands of political parties whose only concern will be getting as many supporters as possible, to the polls.
“The next three days are going to be very risky. They may be the most [risky] because all political parties will be rallying their supporters…to go out and vote for them on Monday in big numbers,” Phaahla added.
Vaccination sites to be set up at voting stations
Recent COVID-10 data from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) suggests that at this juncture, daily infections are still stable.
According to the latest data, 533 positive tests were recorded on 30 845 samples collected in the 24 hours preceding Thursday 28 October 2021.
This represents a positivity rate of 1.7%, well below the figures recorded during the third wave. Moreover, 55 deaths related to COVID-19 were recorded, with the majority of new cases stemming from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and the Western Cape, three metros that will be buzzing with campaign activity this weekend.
To take advantage of the large turnout anticipated at many voting stations on Election Day, Dr Phaahla confirmed that pop-up vaccination sites will be set up in these areas for walk-ins.
Most of the stock on offer will be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson (J&J) but the Pfizer shot will also be available, the ministry confirmed.
“Targeting mainly the uptake of vaccination has not been very good now. The sites will be set up at the voting precinct. We hope that this arrangement will offer convenience to those who have travelled from their homes, who can then achieve both casting ballots and vaccinating in one trip,” the minister added.