Gauteng could soon find itself under much stricter lockdown measures, particularly with the current COVID-19 situation reaching what some have been describing as reaching crisis levels.

So far, things aren’t looking so good for the province, particularly as it accounts for nearly 70% of most of the country’s new infections, during the third wave.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura has said he is exploring the idea of imposing tougher lockdown restrictions for the province, something which will be discussed during a meeting with the provincial command council on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.

“Sitting from where we all sit, anybody can see that the COVID-19 pandemic in Gauteng is really raging, and I can’t say that what we have done is enough.

I can’t rule out that we may need more restrictions, but it is something that is going to be discussed,” he said.

Makhura spoke at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, where he and Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi welcomed members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), who have been deployed to help the province battle COVID-19.

“The pandemic is completely out of control, and if we have to do extraordinary things to ask for further restrictions above level three in Gauteng, it’s something we must explore”.

Premier David Makhura has once again voiced concern over the current state of affairs pertaining to Gauteng’s battle with COVID-19 and emphasized that the only way to change the trajectory is for people to change their behaviour.

The provincial government has often had to reiterate calls for residents to apply the necessary measures of Social distancing, wearing masks and avoid crowds, but Makhura has said that people have so far fail to do the latter.

At the same time, Netcare Group CEO Dr Richard Friedland has said the province is already struggling with bed capacity and further called for a Level 5 lockdown.

“If government isn’t going to lock down the Gauteng province, we have to self-regulate ourselves. We are dealing virtually with something that I would classify as a mass casualty situation.

We are dealing with a mass casualty situation on an ongoing basis across Gauteng since last week,” he said.