SA is now in stage five of an eight-stage programme to manage  the Covid-19 pandemic, health minister Zweli Mkhize said on Tuesday.

Stage 5 deals with surveillance to identify and intervene in hotspots, spatial monitoring of new cases and investigation of outbreaks.

As at Tuesday evening, SA had registered 17,200 cases of Covid-19 and recorded 312 deaths, with 7,960 recoveries.

The country's plan to combat the pandemic was outlined in an eight-stage programme that was revealed by the chair of the ministerial advisory group on Covid-19, Prof Salim Abdool Karim, last month when SA was on stage 4.

According to the plan, the first four stages are:

Stage 1: Preparation

• Community education
• Establishing lab capacity
• Surveillance

Stage 2: Primary prevention

• Social distancing and handwashing
• Closing schools and reduced gathering
• Close the borders to international travel

Stage 3: Lockdown

• Intensifying curtailment of human interaction

Stage 4: Surveillance and active case-finding

• The community response: door-to-door screening, testing, isolation and contact tracing

On Tuesday, Mkhize said SA was in stage 5 and also focusing on stages 6, 7 and 8. 

Stage 5: identify and intervene in hotspots, spatial monitoring of new cases and investigation of outbreaks.

Stage 6: Medical care (for the peak)

• Surveillance on caseload and capacity
• Managing staff exposures and infections
• Building field hospitals for triage
• Expand ICU bed and ventilator numbers

Stage 7: Bereavement and the aftermath

• Expanding burial capacity
• Regulations on funerals
• Managing psychological and social impact

Stage 8: Ongoing vigilance

• Administer vaccines, if available
• Ongoing surveillance for new cases.