Phaahla says Covid-19 almost under control

This, he says, would be a sign of the pandemic being brought under control.

Phaala has briefed the media on Friday morning on the country's efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

READ: 2 pedestrians killed in horrific Durban CBD bus, car collision

He says while coronavirus is still ravaging the world, there has been a 20 percent reduction in new cases in South Africa.

The minister says the Omicron variant accounts for 78 percent of new infections and remains the dominant variant among the youth.

But he says the slow decline in the infection rate is disappointing.

Phaahla says they had hoped to see a positivity rate of 5 percent at the end of last month.

ALSO READ: Mutilated body of missing Mahlongwa boy (6) found

"This resulted in the last four weeks a plateau which led to a positivity rate to continue to linger between seven and 10 percent over the last four weeks. 

"As of yesterday, the positivity rate was at seven percent. We are hoping to see a more sustained decline which will result in the positivity rate going below five percent in the next few days." 

Phaahla says their biggest drawback in the fight against Covid-19 is the low rate of vaccinated youth.

"People 18 to 34, who are only at 34 percent coverage, with only 29.3 percent full vaccination. We need at least five million more of this age group, so that they can push the coverage to at least 60 percent with will also push the national coverage closer to at least 60 percent."  

Phaahla says he is concerned by the rate of positive cases in children - the highest in the 10-14 age group.

"Which was on average 21 percent positive in this age cohort, which is worrying that it means that we are getting more positive cases at a younger age group of 10 to 14 years. We did say last time that this was possibly because of  schools opening, but it looks like the trend has persisted."  

He's urged young people to take advantage of the vaccine campaigns made available.