A vaccine volunteer gets an injection at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg Wednesday, June 24, 2020. Africa’s first participation in a COVID-19 vaccine trial has begun as volunteers received injections developed at the University of Oxford in Britain. The large-scale trial is being conducted in South Africa, Britain, and Brazil. (AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko)
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa on Friday confirmed another record high number of daily virus cases with 8,728 as anxiety grows in Johannesburg, the country’s latest hot spot.
The city has more than 22,000 cases and Gauteng province, which also includes the capital, Pretoria, now has nearly 30% of the country’s cases.
South Africa has Africa’s most confirmed cases with more than 168,000.
The country has the most developed health care system in sub-Saharan Africa and it’s already pushed near the limit, with more than 2,000 health care workers infected and beds in Gauteng’s public hospitals filling up.