Omicron in Gauteng: Residents in the province told to ‘avoid gatherings’

Make no mistake, Gauteng is on high alert thanks to the emergence of the Omicron variant. The COVID-19 mutation appears to be more transmissible than its predecessor Delta – meaning that people are more likely to get infected by it. However, Premier David Makhura is leading the provincial fightback.

Omicron in Gauteng: Locals told to avoid large gatherings

Makhura addressed the media on Thursday, following a briefing from the regional health department. Although this new variant is likely to cause a large increase in new cases, Gauteng only expects to reach around half the number of hospitalisations that were recorded in the last wave – largely thanks to the vaccines.

The jabs, which have a high uptake rate in the elderly and infirmed, already seem to be keeping the vulnerable out of hospital, as Omicron continues to surge in Gauteng. Case numbers have exploded, but so far, hospitalisations have only grown at a steady rate. Nonetheless, Makhura still wants to tackle this new strain head-on.

• His first suggestion? That would be for the people of Gauteng to avoid ‘large gatherings’.

“Let us avoid risky behaviours of large gatherings as they put us at greater risk. We need to vaccinate as this is the most powerful weapon to defeat the Omicron variant. We are in a better position than we were during the first wave.”

David Makhura

Now is the time to get your vaccine

Secondly, Premier Makhura is hellbent on getting the rest of the province vaccinated. With just 33% of the population fully immunised against COVID-19, he has a bit of a battle on his hands. But, in the past few days, it seems the ‘Omicron panic’ has resulted in a surge of people booking their jabs…

“We are back to above 50 000 vaccinations a day. We had fallen below 30 000 vaccinations a day in the past few weeks. If we sustain 50 000 vaccinations daily during the festive season we will be closer to reaching out target.”

“We have eight million adults who are not vaccinated. We want to persuade more people to take responsibility of their health by getting vaccinated. Once we have tried all options we will consider mandatory vaccination.”

David Makhura

Let us avoid risky behaviours of large gatherings as they put us in greater risk. We need to vaccinate as this is the most powerful weapon to defeat the Omicron variant. We are in a better position than we were during the 1st wave – we have vaccines and the best scientists. pic.twitter.com/obE9LHFwwk

— David Makhura (@David_Makhura) December 2, 2021