Health Minister Joe Phaahla says 66 healthcare facilities have been affected by the recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal.

The Minister provided an update on Government’s interventions to assist flood-affected residents.

He says assistance is also being provided to residents and healthcare facilities in the Eastern Cape.

Phaahla says the priority now is to ensure that those with injuries, and those patients who are on chronic medications, get urgent medical attention.

Authorities are hard at work finalizing all post-mortem examinations, on the more than 430 people who died in the KwaZulu-Natal floods.

He says more than 60 school-going children died in the floods.

The Minister says it is important to determine exactly how these people died so that their family members can find closure.

The confirmed death toll stands at 435, with 55 people that are still missing.

Watch the minister’s full briefing here.

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Health Minister Joe Phaahla says he is concerned with the low uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine among young people.

Vaccination for this group of South Africans, aged 18 to 34, commenced in August this year.

The Minister says, to date, only around 25% of young people had been vaccinated.

Phaahla says vaccinations among those younger than 18 are progressing well.

Watch the Department of Health’s latest Covid-19 briefing here.

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Health Minister Joe Phaahla says there are very few countries in the world where the genomic sequencing of Covid-19 is as up to date, as here in South Africa.

He commended the country’s scientists for their early detection of the C.1.2 variant of the virus.

Phaahla says observing new variants in the early stages helps Government better plan for future outbreaks.

Access the Minister’s full briefing here.

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