Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla said on Friday there were discussions in government about reducing the level of the national lockdown restrictions, to allow for more movement and more business activities.

Phaahla was speaking at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital vaccination site, where he said government would try its best to reduce the mobility of people in areas with higher levels of infections. The only way to reduce mobility is through various restrictions including curfew, he said.

“We are discussing this on a weekly basis, we are reviewing. We are encouraged by the declining number of new infections. We will do our analysis from the health department, also advised by our advisory committee too, if there is indeed a sustained decline. We are hoping that KwaZulu-Natal will also start to decline [and] also [hope that the] Eastern Cape will destabilise because the rest of the country generally is on a downward stabilisation,” he explained.

South Africa has been on adjusted alert level 3 of the national lockdown since July 26.

In the last 24 hours, the country recorded 418 new deaths, bringing the confirmed death toll to 82 914.

“On a daily basis now we see new infection rates of below 1 000 in Gauteng. The province has definitely passed its peak and its now really stabilising downwards. But we are aware that in terms of epidemiology that from here, the Western Cape has been hard hit, then KwaZulu-Natal is currently the most hard hit, together with the Eastern Cape,” he said.

He added that his department would continue to assess the state of the country and report to President Cyril Ramaphosa and health experts next week.

Phaahla said if it became clear that there was stability and the infection rates were definitely stabilising, necessary advice would be given, adding that citizens could look forward to some relaxation in the lockdown.

However, he stressed that this was dependent on the responsibility of every citizens to observe Covid-19 safety protocols.

Phaahla assured the nation that the health department was not oblivious to the pressures created by the restrictions.

ACCELERATING VACCINATION PROGRAMME

Meanwhile, more than 13-million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in South Africa, with Phaahla assuring the nation that there is enough stock to vaccinate the nation.

“In terms of capacity, I want to assure South Africans that we are ready. All that we need is your arm to come through so that you can get your jabs,” he said.

Gauteng Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi said the province had expanded and accelerated its vaccination sites.

Ekurhuleni has 165 sites, Johannesburg has 380 sites, Sedibeng has 80 sites, Tshwane has 288 sites and the West Rand municipality has 115 sites.

Mokgethi explained that to further fast-track the country’s vaccination programme, the Department of Health had organised pop-up vaccination sites and drive-through vaccination sites as a direct intervention, especially in areas where there is a low vaccination uptake.

The drive-through and pop-up vaccination sites are also used as a mechanism to direct vaccines to the most vulnerable communities, to address concerns around transport costs and accessibility. This includes areas such as shopping centres, Sassa pay points and taxi ranks.

Gauteng has set a target of 100 000 vaccinations a day.