Covid-19 South Africa - Afrikan Heroes

Covid Creeps Back in South Africa

November 19, 2022

There are indications that Covid is creeping back into South Africa as the country recorded a 16.9% increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases detected in week 45 of 2022, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said.

The latest data shows that the country now has just over four million laboratory-confirmed Covid cases, 2 938 of which were logged since the last report. The report is based on data collected up to 12 November 2022.

“The new cases are now defined as cases detected in the past epidemiological week, based on the date of sample collection or sample receipt,” the NICD explained.

Promisingly, Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths remain fairly flat

According to the NICD, KwaZulu-Natal recorded the highest weekly incidence risk, followed by Gauteng and the Western Cape. “The other provinces reported weekly incidence below four cases per 100 000 persons,” the public health institute said.

In addition, in the past week, seven out of the nine provinces reported a surge in weekly incidence risk. Data show that the increases range from 0.1 cases per 100 000 people (6.6%) in the Free State to 3.4 cases per 100 000 people (64.4%) in KwaZulu-Natal.

According to the statistics, the highest weekly incidence risk is among cases detected in patients aged 80 and above, while the lowest was in the five to nine-year-old age group.

According to the NICD, in week 45 the percentage testing positive was 12.8%, which increased significantly from the previous week.

“In week 45, compared to the previous week, the percentage testing positive increased significantly in the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, North West and Mpumalanga. The percentage testing positive did not change in all other provinces.”

However, in the same week, there was a 40% decrease in the number of new hospital admissions compared to the previous week.

KwaZulu-Natal had the highest number of admissions in the past week (97 admissions out of 286 cases, or 33.9%), followed by Gauteng (82 admissions out of 286 cases, or 28.7%) and Western Cape (51 admissions out of 286 cases, or 17.8%). North West had the lowest number of admissions (five admissions out of 286 cases, or 1.7%).

CSIR senior researcher Ridhwaan Suliman said Covid-19 infections are again on the rise in South Africa, with the country entering another wave. However, according to Suliman, this was expected. “Promisingly, Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths remain fairly flat,” he said on Twitter.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

South Africa May be First to Declare State of Emergency Over Covid-19

March 16, 2020

If the spread of the Covid-19 Virus in South Africa assumed an exponential proportion in the next few days, the government may have no option to declare state of emergency, making it the first to do so in a continent that has largely been shielded from the devastating effects of the rampaging virus. Speaking on the rising cases of persons who tested positive in the last few days, the country’s Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize warns that lockdowns and quarantining people away from their homes may become necessary if the cases continue.

He warned that if South Africa’s growing outbreak of Covid-19 is not swiftly contained, the government could impose a state of emergency, institute lockdowns, and quarantine people away from their homes, Zweli Mkhize warned today. Unlike in other African countries, the number of confirmed cases in South Africa has doubled every two days since the first case was announced on March 5, and presently stands at 61, with a further four awaiting validation by the National Health Laboratory Service, he said. At least 1,000 contacts are being traced.

“That is not exponential. It is an explosive rise in cases. It is important for us to suppress the curve, and reduce the speed at which it is happening. We need to move into higher gear, the Health Minister warned, adding that “we are determined to take hard decisions if need be. We cannot rule out a need in the future to impose a state of emergency”.

Mkhize said it was vital for SA to slow the spread of the SARS-Covid-2 virus, which causes Covid-19 or the health system would buckle. While most cases of Covid-19 are mild, 15% of patients are expected to require hospitalisation, a third of whom will need to be admitted to intensive care units, he said. The government was also worried about the potential spread of Covid-19 in poor communities. “It will create a new dynamic and the need to create quarantine facilities. When we say quarantine, it means someone might have to move from their homes,” he said.

Kelechi Deca