In a statement, Eskom said that the power system was severely constrained after 10 generation units at seven power stations had broken down over the last 48 hours.
Eskom lost a unit each at the Arnot, Medupi, Lethabo and Matla power stations while two units each at the Majuba, Camden and Tutuka power stations broke down.
The struggling power supplier warned that any further deterioration in the generation performance could see loadshedding being escalated at short notice, adding that the constrained power system was likely to persist for the rest of the week.
Explained: What a pulse oximeter is and how it works
BY TANYA FARBER
Don’t wait: if your chest is sore and you’re breathless, seek help. Image: Jozef Polc/123rf.com
One of SA’s top Covid-19 experts has advised South Africans to “seek help immediately” if they have chest pains and shortness of breath.
“The main symptoms of low oxygen are chest pain and difficulty with breathing,” explains Professor Shabir Madhi, who is on the Covid-19 advisory council to the department of health and is head of the vaccine trials in the country.
He adds that “dizziness” follows as one fails to get enough oxygen to the brain.
He said people should “seek assistance immediately” if they are experiencing “chest pains, shortness of breath, lightheadedness or confusion”, as these are all “telltale signs that your oxygen levels are not adequate”.
Rapid breathing is also a sign.
“If you are taking more than 20 breaths per minute, then you need to receive oxygen,” he told TimesLIVE.
He said it is “difficult to quantify” if many South Africans are failing to seek help when they should, but suspected that “some are delaying seeking care because they’re too afraid of what might happen”.
Across the globe, between 12% to 14% of those who are hospitalised lose their lives and, says Prof Madhi, “South Africa is in the same ballpark figures of what has been observed in other countries”.
Apart from monitoring these symptoms, another way to check oxygen levels is with a pulse oximeter, but these are not readily available to the public in South Africa.
“A pulse oximeter is good to have but they aren’t readily available,” said Madhi. “It’s a medical device so very few pharmacists will have it. But, the symptoms on their own will tell you if you need oxygen.”
It’s a small device that clips onto your finger and measures your oxygen saturation levels, and outside of hospitals, one is most likely to see them in an ambulance or a nursing home.
You need to “make sure your hands are warm” while using one, says Madhi.
Nail polish can also interfere with the readings, so the device should be used without any.
“Your saturation should be above 95,” says Prof Madhi, “if it is under 93 you need to get oxygen.”
While the public may also attempt to measure their own oxygen with smartphone apps or fitness trackers, a British general practitioner, Ann Robinson told The Guardian, “There is no evidence to say that smartphone apps or fitness trackers are accurate enough for this purpose.”
In a small percentage of Covid-19 cases, a person can suffer from what’s known as silent hypoxia — where there is no way of knowing that oxygen levels have dropped to very dangerous levels.
This was first reported in Chinese studies but there was no indication of how commonly this occurs.
Cases then showed up in Europe and the UK.
A letter to the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests that silent hypoxaemia could result from one’s oxygen and carbon dioxide being low, because if only your oxygen is low, it is high blood carbon dioxide that usually causes breathlessness.
Wits University’s Professor Shabir Madhi. Image: Supplied/Wits
The WHO advises that if you have minor symptoms, such as only a slight cough or a mild fever, “there is generally no need to seek medical care”. It advises such people to stay at home, monitor their symptoms, and follow national guidance on self-isolation.
The WHO advises that people get medical attention immediately if they have any breathing difficulties or pain or pressure in the chest.
Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has published a directive which outline South Africa’s new lockdown rules.
The directive comes after president Cyril Ramaphosa announced the reintroduction of new lockdown restrictions on Sunday evening (12 July), as the country faces a surge in coronavirus cases.
“The storm is upon us,” the president said. “More than a quarter of a million South Africans have been infected with coronavirus, and we know that many more infections have gone undetected.”
“The coronavirus storm is far fiercer and more destructive than any we have known before. It is stretching our resources and our resolve to their limits.”
President Ramaphosa said that the surge of infections that experts and scientists predicted over three months ago has now arrived. According to current projections, each of our provinces will reach the peak of infections at different times between the end of July and late September, he said.
“We are focusing on a number of priority actions in the coming weeks,” he said.
You can read the updated lockdown rules below. Alternatively, you can read the full directive here.
The wearing of a cloth face mask, a homemade item, or another appropriate item that covers the nose and mouth is mandatory for every person when in a public place.
In addition, if not wearing a mask, no person will be allowed to:
Use, operate, perform any service on any form of public transport;
Enter or be in a building, place or premises, including government buildings, places or premises, used by the public to obtain goods or services; or
Be in any public open space.
The above does not apply to a person who undertakes ‘vigorous exercise’ in a public place, provided that the person maintains a distance of at least three metres from any other person, and subject to directions on what is considered to be ‘vigorous’ by the Health minister.
Inline with existing regulations, an employer must provide every employee with a cloth face mask, homemade item, or another appropriate item that covers the nose and mouth, when in the workplace.
In addition, an employer may not allow any employee to perform any duties or enter the employment premises if the employee is not wearing an appropriate item.
Public transport drivers, managers, owners of buildings, and employers who do not enforce the above regulations will be liable to either a fine or six months imprisonment or both.
Curfew and liquor
Every person is confined to his or her place of residence from 21h00 until 04h00 daily, except where a person has been granted a permit.
The sale, dispensing and distribution of liquor is now also prohibited with immediate effect.
The transportation of liquor is prohibited, except where the transportation of liquor is:
In relation to alcohol required for industries producing hand sanitizers, disinfectants, soap or alcohol for industrial use and household cleaning products;
For export purposes; or
From manufacturing plants to storage facilities.
The directive also states that no special or events liquor licenses may be considered for approval during the duration of the national state of disaster.
Transport
The directive states that bus and taxi services may operate under the following conditions:
They may not carry more than 70% of the licensed capacity for long-distance intra- provincial and permitted inter-provincial travel;
They may carry 100% of the licensed capacity for any trip not regarded as long-distance travel.
The directive defines long-distance travel as a trip of 200 km or more whether the travel is within a province or interprovincial.
A driver, owner or operator of public transport may not allow any member of the public not wearing a cloth face mask, homemade item, or another appropriate item that covers the nose and mouth, to board or be conveyed in public transport owned or operated by him or her.
Cigarettes and tobacco
The directive states that:
The sale of tobacco, tobacco products, e-cigarettes and related products to members of the public and to persons including retailers who sell directly to the members of the public, is prohibited;
The sale of tobacco, tobacco products, e-cigarettes and related products for export, is permitted;
The sale of tobacco from farmers to local processors or local manufacturers, and from processors to manufacturers, is permitted.
