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The Bronkhorstspruit Labour Centre in Gauteng has been temporarily closed for decontamination after registering its first case of COVID-19.

Gauteng Provincial Operations Chief Director, Tshepo Mokomatsidi, said the office will reopen next week Monday, and will operate with a skeleton staff, as some of the employees will be on self-quarantine.

“The well-being and safety of our officials and clients is our top priority. We are closely monitoring the evolving impact on our offices and implementing ongoing measures to ensure their health and safety, while also maintaining the highest level of service to our clients.

“We will continue to tailor our approach to meet our clients’ specific needs, and will adjust and continue communicating with them as circumstances change,” Mokomatsidi said.

Mokomatsidi has assured clients that services will continue uninterrupted at the nearby offices, and officials will communicate regularly with them throughout this time.

The department’s Director-General, Thobile Lamati, said although the department is concerned about the backlog in service delivery as a result of temporary office closures, of paramount importance is the health and safety of clients and employees.

“Our officials are an important cog of the working of the South African economy and as such, we will also ensure that they are as safe as possible,” Lamati said.

Clients are encouraged to use the department’s online services found on www.labour.gov.za and toll free number 0800 030 007 for UIF enquiries.

South Africa recorded 315 more deaths due to COVID-19.

A total of 121 deaths were recported in the Eastern Cape, 96 in Gauteng, 55 in KwaZulu-Natal, 34 in the Western Cape and nine in the North West.

This brings the cumulative number of deaths to 7 812 as of Thursday, Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, said.

The total number of confirmed cases has risen to 482 169 after 11 046 more people contracted the virus since the last report.

Gauteng remains the hardest-hit province with 171 574 cases, followed by the Western Cape 94 440, Eastern Cape 77 055 and KwaZulu-Natal 73 919.

Free State has recorded 20 398 cases, North West 18 811, Mpumalanga 13 280, Limpopo 8 240 and Northern Cape 4 402.

Fifty cases have still not been allocated.

A reported 309 601 people have recovered since the outbreak, which translates to a recovery rate of 64%. A total of 2 918 049 tests have been conducted, with 44 886 having been done in the last 24 hours.

Globally, there are 16 812 755 cases and 662 095 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation.

Government will in the coming months expedite the implementation of at least 50 infrastructure projects with a total investment value of more than R340 billion.

The fast-tracking of the projects forms part of the reconstruction and recovery of the South African economy.

This was the key outcome of the inaugural meeting of the reconstituted Council of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission on Thursday.

President Cyril Ramaphosa chaired the meeting, which brought together Ministers, Premiers, Mayors and the South African Local Government Association to ensure the effective integration of the country’s substantial infrastructure programme.

President Ramaphosa said the focus of this administration is to consolidate infrastructure under one roof to ensure effective implementation.

“Our experience has been that infrastructure can only be sustainable if there is cooperation and partnership between all three spheres of government and if there is a common intent,” he said.

In terms of the Infrastructure Development Act of 2014, the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission (PICC) acts through its council.

The council coordinates the development, maintenance, implementation and monitoring of the National Infrastructure Plan; coordinates the determination of priorities for infrastructure development; designates strategic integrated projects (SIPS) and ensures that infrastructure development, in respect of any SIP, is given priority in planning, approval and implementation.

The council also coordinates the identification of strategic partners with which to conclude agreements that seek to promote the objects of infrastructure development.

The council must ensure that infrastructure projects promote economic equality, social cohesion, decent employment opportunities and skills development.

In keeping with this mandate, the council agreed to expedite the implementation of projects in prioritised sectors such as human settlements, transport, energy, water and sanitation, agriculture and agro-processing, and digital infrastructure.

The council confirmed a new approach to infrastructure build including:

• Preventing corruption through transparent tender processes and stronger due diligence;
• Greater involvement of communities in design and implementation;
• Emphasis on local employment and procurement, and targeted involvement of SMEs, and
• Blended financing through the Infrastructure Fund to mobilise more resources from the private sector, multilateral development banks and development finance institutions.

President Ramaphosa emphasised the vital importance of infrastructure development in responding to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, restoring growth and creating jobs.

“Extraordinary measures are required to return us to a path of sustainable growth. Central to this effort is infrastructure construction and maintenance, which is the flywheel for economic growth and large-scale job creation,” he said.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) says it can make enough enzyme for one billion chemical reactions that can be applied in COVID-19 testing, and researchers hope to begin supplying reagents for a faster, one-step test by the end of the year.

Current polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in nasal and throat swabs involve two steps.

Firstly, the virus’s genetic material, its RNA, must be converted to DNA using an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, in a reaction called RT-PCR.

Secondly, PCR is then used to make thousands of copies of the DNA, until there are enough of these tiny molecules to detect.

If the test detects the targeted DNA copies, there must have been viral RNA in the sample, hence the test is positive.

“The CSIR has already established a highly efficient technology to produce the enzyme needed for the second step,” says senior researcher Dr Lusisizwe Kwezi.

“This enzyme is known as DNA Taq polymerase, and just three grams of the protein, produced in E. coli bacteria in as little as three days, is enough for a billion PCR reactions,” Kwezi said.

This does not equate to COVID-19 tests for a billion people because, among other technical reasons, diagnostic tests must be carefully repeated several times for each patient to ensure accurate results. But it does mean that a huge amount of this important reagent is available locally and affordably.

Another benefit of the reagent mix is that it contains a special antibody that stops the Taq enzyme from working when it is not needed. This makes it more specific when it has to amplify DNA during the PCR reaction, and more robust for potential future point-of-care testing devices.

Kwezi said earlier this month, the CSIR delivered a 3 g batch to local company CapeBio Technologies (Pty) Ltd, which has licensed and commercialised the technology.

It will be rolled out to support the national testing effort as soon as CapeBio gets approval from the South African Health Products Regulation Authority (SAHPRA).

Thanks to funding just awarded through the Strategic Health Innovation Partnership – a partnership between the South African Medical Research Council and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) – the CSIR and CapeBio are now working to add the reverse transcriptase enzyme to the mix as well, so that the two-step COVID-19 PCR test can be done in a single step. This will reduce the turnaround time of tests.

The antibody will be produced in plants rather than in E. coli, and Kwezi says the resulting one-step kit could be ready for national roll-out within six months, pending SAHPRA approval.

He said local availability of large amounts of such affordable ‘plug-and-play’ reagents, which also allow for faster results delivered to patients, will be critical in managing the pandemic in the long-term.

Members of the public will once again be able to access the country’s botanical gardens to exercise from 3 August 2020.

Permission for access for exercise purposes only was published in the Amended Directions for the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries in Government Gazette 43564 (Notice No. 822) on 28 July 2020.

“The gardens have been closed to the public for four months. Reopening the gardens will allow those who frequent for exercise to enjoy the privilege. Any access and use is subject to strict COVID-19 health protocols,” Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy, said on Thursday.

The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) manages the country’s 11 botanical gardens in eight provinces. Each garden represents a variety of South Africa’s rich biodiversity.

No social gathering, picnics or public events will be allowed. Commercial facilities in the gardens, such as restaurants, have been allowed to open under alert level 3, subject to prescribed regulations for the respective areas of business.

“Business conferences and meetings limited to 50 people, excluding those who participate via electronic platforms, may be allowed under controlled conditions outlined in government regulations that promote health protocols for such gatherings,” the Minister said.

Daily access to the botanical gardens will be monitored and limited once the safe carrying capacity for the area has been reached.

All visitors will be required to wear face masks, be temperature screened, and complete a tracing register. Gate opening and closing hours will be strictly adhered to.

Preliminary results from a study of 12 987 COVID-19 patients in South Africa indicate that HIV and TB have a modest effect on COVID-19 mortality, scientists Quarraisha Abdool Karim and Salim Abdool Karim said.

According to the experts, 12% and 2% of COVID-19 deaths are attributable to HIV and TB, respectively, compared to 52% of COVID-19 deaths attributable to diabetes in South Africa.

“The small contribution of HIV and TB to COVID-19 mortality is mainly due to these deaths occurring in older people, in whom HIV and active TB are not common. Integrated medical care for these three conditions is important, as COVID-19 patients co-infected with HIV or TB start attending healthcare services in larger numbers,” the scientists said.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim is the Director at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) and the country’s chief Coronavirus scientist. Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim is an infectious diseases epidemiologist and Associate Scientific Director at CAPRISA.

The lead scientists published a paper in Science Magazine on how South Africa’s TB and HIV infrastructure helped with a rapid response to COVID-19. However, they believe that the focus on COVID-19 has an “opportunity cost” to the enormous gains made against these conditions.

“We can’t afford to be complacent,” the scientists said.

Access to chronic medication

According to the pair, access to medical care for non–COVID-19 conditions was limited during the hard lockdown, with health facilities experiencing dwindling numbers of TB and HIV patients collecting their medication on schedule.

“In South Africa, 1 090 TB patients and 10 950 HIV patients in one province have not collected their medications on schedule since the start of the national lockdown.”

Meanwhile, 13.2% of the 19 330 individuals surveyed in the country indicated that their medication for chronic disease was inaccessible during the lockdown.

“Furthermore, hospital admissions for HIV and TB declined as a result of hospitals reducing non-urgent admissions in preparation for a surge of COVID-19 cases and owing to closures to reduce exposure to COVID-19 patients,” said the professors.

This could pose a threat and have substantial repercussions for both treatment and control, including the development of drug resistance for HIV and TB patients.

While the biological and epidemiological interaction of COVID-19, HIV and TB is not well understood, the two professors think that patients, whose immune system is compromised by HIV or TB, could be more susceptible to severe COVID-19.

South Africa’s COVID-19 lockdown regulations have also had a disproportional impact on women, many of whom are self-employed or day labourers without a safety net, research revealed.

“This may have a longer-term effect on increasing diseases associated with poverty such as TB and with gender, such as HIV, for which young women bear a disproportionate burden,” said the professors.

They also warned of the negative impact of the declining economy on HIV and TB programmes.

New and ongoing research

According to the professors, new and ongoing research on HIV and TB prevention and treatment have been affected by the pandemic.

South Africa has about 7.9 million people living with HIV and ranks among the worst-affected countries in the world for TB, with the fourth-highest rate of HIV-TB co-infection at 59%.

“At the initiation of the lockdown in South Africa, the National Health Research Ethics Committee suspended all medical research, including clinical trials.

“However, COVID-19 research efforts have increased collaboration and created new approaches to speed up therapeutic and vaccine development and testing, which will likely have long-term benefits for medical research beyond COVID-19,” said the professors.

South Africa has made steady progress since 2010 in controlling both diseases. Access to antiretroviral drugs for treatment and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV has resulted in a 33% reduction in AIDS-related deaths between 2010 and 2018, the professors said.

In addition, the death rate among TB cases has declined from 224 per 100 000 population in 2010 to 110 per 100 000 population in 2018.

“Past investments in infectious disease training and research have generated handsome returns to the COVID-19 response, highlighting the importance of maintaining these investments in the future,” the professors said.

They said the resources built up over decades for the control of HIV and TB, and now redirected to control COVID-19, include diagnostic platforms, community outreach programmes, medical care access and research infrastructure.

However, the professors said the COVID-19 response also provides potential opportunities to enhance HIV and TB control.

After a two-day streak of cases below the 10 000 mark, South Africa’s new COVID-19 cases were at 11 362 on Wednesday.

This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in South Africa to 471 123.

Gauteng tops the chart with 168369 cases recorded which accounts for 35.7% of the total infections.

The Western Cape comes in second with 98 737 cases followed by Eastern Cape with 75 872 cases.

Free State has 19207 cases, KwaZulu-Natal 71240, Limpopo 7840, Mpumalanga 12442, North West 18231, Northern Cape 4135, while 50 cases are yet to be allocated.

The country recorded a further 240 deaths bringing the total number of deaths to 7 497.

Eastern Cape accounts for 34 deaths, 156 from Gauteng, 27 from KwaZulu-Natal, and 23 from Western Cape.

“We convey our condolences to the loved ones of the departed and thank the health care workers who treated the deceased,” said Health Minister, Dr Zwelini Mkhize.

Meanwhile, the number of recoveries currently stands at 297 967 which translates to a recovery rate of 63%.

The total number of tests conducted to date is 2 873 163 with 42 528 new tests conducted since the last report.

Eskom on Wednesday launched a campaign to educate the public about illegal connections and other issues that have an impact on the national power grid.

“Eskom is embarking on a strong communications drive to educate the public about illegal connections, the load reduction drive and other issues impacting the national power grid – infrastructure theft, meter tampering and illegal vending,” it said in a statement.

Over the next few months, the power utility will focusing on three primary areas in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal where electricity theft through illegal connections and network overloading are rife.

However, the education drive will also be rolled out nationally.

“The drive is to educate the communities on the dangers of illegal connections, network overloading and the impact on the communities. Since mid-May Eskom has implemented load reduction and, unlike load shedding this is not due to a shortage of electricity generation capacity,” said the utility.

Load reduction is when Eskom switches off power to localised areas where illegal connections cause overload and as a result could damage infrastructure.

“The objective of load reduction is to protect Eskom’s infrastructure by reducing electricity usage during peak times, which is when the most damage occurs, and managing the impact on the transformers and mini-substations in that area.

“Once a transformer or mini-substation is overloaded, it explodes and as a result that entire area will be out of power.  When a transformer explodes, it can’t be fixed, it has to be replaced and replacing a transformer can cost anywhere between R80 000 to R100 000,” said Group Executive for Eskom’s Distribution Division, Monde Bala.

The power utility reminded the public that illegal connections are a crime and interfere with Eskom infrastructure.

“These replacements are costing Eskom billions of Rand annually. Eskom’s main concern is that illegal connections are a danger to the community, and often result in serious injury or even death, and damage to property.”

It said the excessive usage of electricity resulting from the illegal connections overloads transformers, causing explosions that result in prolonged unplanned outages that can last for many days and leave all homes, traffic lights and businesses in the area without power.

Another key component of the communication drive is to address the issue of non-payment.

“In the Eskom customer base alone, some 1.7 million customers out of a total of 6.6 million are not paying for electricity consumed. Add to this the municipal debt of R30.9 billion and it leaves Eskom in a precarious financial position,” said the power utility.

Eskom has urged the public to pay for the electricity they use, and to not engage in illegal connections.

Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy has welcomed the deployment of a team of Working on Fire firefighters and management to fight the New England Road Landfill Site fire in Pietermaritzburg.

“The team of firefighters and management have been working tirelessly since their deployment on 21 July to support the Mgungundlovu Disaster Management Centre to extinguish the fire that flared up again last week,” Minister Creecy said.

A total of 78 firefighters and management and 10 support vehicles from the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries’ Working on Fire (WoF) programme in KwaZulu-Natal have been deployed to the New England Road site in Pietermaritzburg.

An Incident Command Centre has been established which includes the Working on Fire team, provincial Fire Protection Associations and Disaster Management Centre, Msunduzi Fire, Mgungundlovu District Fire and the eThekwini Metro Fire Department.

“Through the joint effort, we hope that the fire is brought under control, and extinguished, as soon as possible,” said the Minister.

Working on Fire has just over 700 firefighters on standby at various bases across KwaZulu-Natal to respond to any blazes in the province during the winter fire season.

Minister Creecy urged landowners and community members to be vigilant and not to start any fires, even for warmth in open areas if weather conditions do not permit.

Community members have also been urged to ensure that fire extinguishers and other firefighting equipment are serviced and ready if any fire breaks out on their property.

The extremely cold weather over parts of the province in recent weeks, coupled with dry vegetation and strong winds created favourable conditions for the rapid spread of fires.

Working on Fire teams in KwaZulu-Natal have assisted in extinguishing more than 100 fires in KwaZulu-Natal in June and July.

Across South Africa, Working on Fire has just over 5 000 firefighters on standby at 200 bases to respond to any blazes in the provinces during the current winter fire season.

To date, Working on Fire has responded to close to 800 wildfires in South Africa.

As the winter season continues, the teams will continue to burn fire breaks, trace belts, and block burns to ensure the risk of fires destroying homes and livelihoods in the province is reduced. This is being done while adhering to COVID-19 protocols.

“Although our teams are ready to fight fires, we rely on community members to be responsible when lighting fires and to report any fires to the authorities as soon as possible,” Minister Creecy said.