• Gauteng Health MEC takes solace in the recovery rate as province records 100 000 cases.
• MEC predicted 120 000 by the end of July and 300 000 by the end of August.
• He is concerned about the 100% load in taxis. 

As Gauteng becomes the first province to record 100 000 cases, Gauteng Health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku says he is comforted by the fact that most cases in the province have not been severe.

"We are concerned about the rapidness, how we actually got there, but we also take comfort in the fact that the majority of the confirmed cases, they do not have severe symptoms or require them to be in hospital facilities," Masuku told News24 on Monday, ahead of confirmation that the province had breached the 100 000-case mark.

But Masuku is taking solace in the "fact that the province is seeing a climb in recoveries".

"We are also seeing a steady climb in terms of recoveries so we also take solace in that. We are working towards a point of what we have planned in terms of field hospitals and tents are in place and are active as we speak to de-congest the system," he explained.

As of Monday night, the province recorded 103 713 cases, 33 514 recoveries and 644 deaths.

Gauteng's cases represent 36% of the country's total recorded infections.

Recently, Masuku said modelling suggested the province could see 120 000 cases by the end of July and 300 000 by the end of August.

"Our predictions tell us that we will be reaching 120 000 by the end of July. We will be getting closer to 250 000 to 300 000 by August, [and in] September which is expected to be the peak, we will be having more than that," he told News24 at the time.

The SA Covid-19 Modelling Consortium, however, predicted that by 13 July 2020, the province could have an estimated 115 000 cumulative detected cases and 730 cumulative deaths.

District breakdown

Gauteng's latest city and district statistics show that the City of Johannesburg has the highest number of cases with 44 945. Of those, 10 025 are in the region comprised of Doornkop, Soweto, Dobsonville and Protea Glen.

With many residents in this region, as well as those in the city centre - which has also seen a high number of cases - relying on taxis, the MEC is concerned about the impact safety on mini-buses will have on the province.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday that taxis would be allowed to load commuters at 100% capacity for local trips.

"Yes, we are concerned, we would like [commuters] to take extra precautions in terms of getting into the taxis using cloth face masks and sanitisers," said Masuku.