Coronavirus: South Africa surges past 500,000 cases as infections climb

Experts say that reaching the half million mark will see new cases increase daily and a million could be infected soon

A health worker walks between beds at a temporary field hospital set up by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Khayelitsha township near Cape Town, South Africa, July 21, 2020. REUTERS

A man uses his bicycle during a protest of hospitality workers against coronavirus lockdown regulations in the streets around Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa, 24 July 2020. EPA

People stand in a queue to receive food aid amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Itireleng informal settlement, near Laudium suburb in Pretoria, South Africa, May 20, 2020. REUTERS

A health worker talks to residents as they conduct screening during the 21-day nationwide lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bo Kaap, Cape Town, South Africa, April 7, 2020. REUTERS

A teacher screens students as schools begin to reopen after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown in Langa township in Cape Town, South Africa June 8, 2020. REUTERS

A volunteer receives an injection from a medical worker during the country's first human clinical trial for a potential vaccine against the novel coronavirus, at the Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, South Africa, June 24, 2020. REUTERS

A health department official walks past beds set up at a temporary field hospital to deal with an expected surge in cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town, South Africa May 26, 2020. REUTERS

Women receive bread at a food handout during the Eid al Adha at the 'Hunger Has No Religion' feeding scheme, in Johannesburg, South Africa, 01 August 2020. The local Muslim community spent the time they would have shared with family celebrating Eid al-Adha by feeding hundreds who are facing food insecurity due to the effects of the 5th month of pandemic lockdown. EPA

Members of the Muslim burial organization wait to prepare the body of a man who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for burial at Ghiedmatiel Islamia mosque in Cape Town, South Africa, July 31, 2020. REUTERS

Tour operators take part in a protest in Cape Town, South Africa, Friday July 31, 2020. Various tourism operators staged a slow drive protest as they struggle to make ends meet under the COVID-19 lockdown regulations. AP Photo

A family member wearing a full PPE suite looks on after the funeral of a beloved elderly family member who died as a result of the elderly Covid-19 Coronavirus at a graveyard on the 119 day of lockdown due to the Covid-19 Coronavirus, Johannesburg, South Africa, 24 July 2020. EPA

Coronavirus cases in South Africa have surged passed 500,000 confirmed infections and the expected peak has still not been reached, officials said.

Health Minister Zwelini Mkhize announced 10,107 new cases on Saturday night, bringing the country’s cumulative total to 503,290, including 8,153 deaths.

South Africa, with a population of about 58 million, has the fifth-highest number of cases in the world, behind the U.S., Brazil, Russia and India, all countries with significantly higher populations, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. South Africa’s caseload represented 50 per cent of all confirmed infections in the 54 countries in Africa.

However, experts say the true toll of the pandemic worldwide is much higher than confirmed cases, due to limited testing and other reasons.

“Half a million is a significant milestone because it shows we’ve entered a stage of rapid increases. We may reach 1 million cases very quickly,” said Denis Chopera, a virologist based in Durban. “What we know for sure is that the figures are an underestimate and that this virus will be with us for a long time to come.”

South Africa’s Gauteng province – which includes Johannesburg, the country’s largest city, and the capital of Pretoria – is the country’s epicentre with more than 35 per cent of its confirmed cases.

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Local hospitals have been struggling to cope and health experts say the country could reach the peak of its outbreak in late August or early September.

Cape Town, a city beloved by international tourists at the country’s southern tip, was the first centre and reached its peak last month, according to health experts.

South Africa will have multiple peaks across the country, each challenging its different provincial health care systems, said Mr Chopera, executive manager of the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence.

“The Western Cape had the first peak and did relatively well. Gauteng is the epicentre now and appears to be coping so far,” he said. “Other provinces, like the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, do not have reputations for well-organized health care systems. They may have serious problems.”

South Africa imposed a strict lockdown in April and May that appeared to slow the spread of the virus but caused such economic damage that the country began a gradual reopening in June.

South Africa was already in recession before the coronavirus hit and its unemployment stands at 30 per cent. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government has extended grants to the country’s poorest, increased supplies to hospitals and recently accepted a $4.3 billion (Dh 15.7bn) loan from the International Monetary Fund.

Corruption in the country’s pandemic response is a growing problem. On Thursday the top health official in Gauteng province was forced to step down over corruption allegations related to government contracts for Covid-19 personal protective equipment.

Mr Ramaphosa has warned that now, more than ever, South Africa’s persistent problem with widespread graft is endangering people’s lives.