Gauteng premier David Makhura has urged Gauteng residents not to be complacent as Covid-19 cases continue to rise in the province.

Makhura said the new infections, which are driven by the dominant Omicron variant, have surpassed the number of infections seen in the peak of the first and second waves in the province.

“We have reached the increase in daily infection that we have not reached in the first and the second waves. The spike that is happening doesn’t suggest that we have reached a peak. The likelihood is that these numbers will keep shooting up. Our province has been contributing over 60% of all the new cases. There are days when we’ve contributed over 67% of the cases,” he said.

He was addressing a media briefing by the Covid-19 command council, which gave an update on the management of the virus in the province. 

Makhura said the province was preparing itself for the fourth wave by increasing bed capacity.

“If we have numbers that continue to increase as the spike shows, we must be very concerned. Behind these numbers, the surge is the hospitalisations. Providing bed capacity means ensuring that you clear people that  [do not require critical care] so that the beds are available for those who need critical care. 

“Clinicians will also decide which surgeries they can afford to do later as part of the management of hospital admissions. We have activated all other beds in the system from the first and second waves,” said Makhura.

He said the provincial government has also extended the employment contracts of healthcare workers to enable the health department’s efficient response to the pandemic.