Awareness campaigns have been accelerated in Limpopo as dozens of new cholera cases are confirmed daily in the province, the health department said on Friday.
Spokesperson Phuti Seloba said hand soap, bleach and educational material were being distributed in a door-to-door awareness campaign to curb the spread of the disease in the most vulnerable areas.
The number of people suffering from cholera rose to 2 154 on Thursday.
Seloba said Musina and Madimbo in the Vhembe districts accounted for 1 034 cases, as people living in these communities still fetched their water from a river.
He added that plans were under way to build infrastructure to supply clean and safe water to the areas, with more than R8-million set aside for this.
Seloba admitted that the outbreak was worsening but said his department had accelerated its efforts to contain the spread through various initiatives that included the door-to-door awareness campaign.
He said the department was also talking to local bus companies about mobile advertising to intensify the awareness efforts.
Industrial theatre in the affected communities had also been put into play to dramatise the message about cholera if recommended precautions were not followed.
Limpopo’s cholera death toll remained at nine.
Gauteng, which had recorded the second highest number of cholera cases, is standing at 33 and had not recorded any new confirmed cases since Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Mpumalanga health spokesperson Mpho Gabashane confirmed that 20 people had since tested positive for cholera and a hundred more were suspected in the province.
Bushbuckridge was most affected.
The first cholera-related death was recorded almost two weeks ago following a local couple’s visit to Zimbabwe during the festive season.
One of them had since been cured.
Two doctors from the National Institute of Communicable Disease and the World Health Organisation arrived in the province on Thursday to offer ”technical support”.
The Western Cape reported seven and KwaZulu-Natal six confirmed cholera cases since Monday with no deaths recorded in either province.
The Eastern Cape had not had any cholera reports since its one case was treated and cured in December last year.
Nothing had been reported from the Free State and the Northern Cape. — Sapa