Johannesburg, November 29: South Africa could face a devastating second wave of coronavirus in January if strict prevention measures are not enforced during the coming holidays, according to the head of the COVID-19 Ministerial Advisory Committee.

Professor Salim Abdool Karim's warning was endorsed in separate concerns expressed by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize; the chair of the South African Medical Association, Dr Angelique Coetzee; and Professor Mosa Moshabela, chief medical specialist of rural health and dean of the University of KwaZulu-Natal's School of Nursing and Public Health. Also Read | Hong Kong to Close Schools Due to Spike in COVID-19 Cases.

Their concerns came amid rapidly rising infection rates in the provinces of Western Cape and Eastern Cape, as workers prepare to head to their ancestral rural villages from mid-December for the traditional shutdown of factories and businesses for the Christmas period for at least three weeks.

"I am worried about December 16, when the factories close and hundreds of thousands of people travel across the country, some of them to the Eastern Cape. Three weeks later when the holidays are over they will be taking the virus (back) throughout the country," Karim said.

Coetzee said that the current number of staff members in most hospitals was "grossly inadequate, and health-care workers are exhausted, stressed and frustrated." Moshabela suggested a limit on travel as a precautionary measure.

"If fewer people travel, and fewer people to the Eastern Cape, then there is a chance we might limit the spread. Those who opt to travel should avoid gatherings," he said.

"The way to stop a national outbreak is to get the Eastern Cape situation under control now," said Mkhize. In the past week, Mkhize spearheaded efforts in the Eastern Cape province to contain the number of infections as an ever-increasing number of people ignore regulations regarding wearing of masks in and maintaining social distancing at public event, especially at taverns during the evenings. Also Read | Afghanistan: Suicide Car Bomb Blast Near Military Camp in Ghazni, 30 Dead, 24 Injured.

Informed sources said that among the measures to be considered by the government's National Coronavirus Command Council later this week are possible lockdowns of hotspots at local and municipal levels; extending and strictly enforcing the night-time curfew and possible closure of taverns serving alcohol that do not adhere to the protocols for prevention.

Western Cape premier Alan Winde also expressed serious concern over the number of infections in his province having gone up by over 52 per cent in the past week alone. On Friday, Mkhize revealed in his daily update that South Africa had recorded 3,370 new coronavirus cases overnight, with 86 more deaths, 55 of them in the Eastern Cape Province.

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