Following the rapid increase in Covid infections of the new variant known as Omicron, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala in a media briefing, gave an update on the emerging trends and analysis regarding the situation in the province, on 5 December.
In his address, Zikalala said that KZN has officially entered the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections. He said the province observed a significant climb in the rate of infections daily over the last three weeks from a positivity rate of 0.7% to 12.7% currently. “The number of daily cases that have been registered in the past seven days has been rising at an alarming rate. The province started receiving more than 100 cases per day from 26 November, while the average number of cases received daily rose from 47 to 362. The incidence risk per 100 000 population has also increased from 3 to 18 cases per 100 000 population in the past seven days,” said Zikalala.
He said all of these developments indicated that the province had entered the fourth wave. “The rate of hospitalisations has also increased, including patients who require ICU and ventilation. We can confirm that the vast majority of those patients who require treatment in ICU and ventilation are those who have not been vaccinated. Further analysis of our trends show that, while there is no significant increase in the number of deaths, people above the age of 60 have registered more deaths, while there has been a notable increase in the infection rate among those who are aged between 30 and 50. The three leading co-morbidities are still hypertension, diabetes and tuberculosis,” said Zikalala.
Over the weekend the province recorded a total of 1 002 new cases which brings the number of cases to 521 599, since the first case was identified in March 2020. “As of 4 December, the province had a total of 381 patients who were admitted in both private and public hospitals. Of those admitted, 26 patients (seven percent) required intensive care services. Private hospitals had more patients admitted in ICU. There is a remarkable increase in the number of hospitalisations in public health facilities. The province has had a total of 14 798 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. Within the province, eThekwini Metro Municipality continues to contribute 36% of the reported deaths,” said the Premier.
Districts showing high infection rates for the past seven days include eThekwini, uMgungundlovu and Amajuba. The Premier said the department has developed a festive plan that will address Covid-19 related issues as part of the provincial state of readiness for the fourth wave. “All events have been targeted, including planned events and cultural events. Events are required to have a Covid-19 plan, including the sea cruises. The taxi industry and shopping malls are also targeted with interventions that will include health education, vaccination and compliance monitoring insofar as non-pharmaceutical interventions are concerned,” he said.
As of 4 December the province had administered 4.023 million vaccination doses to 2.645 million people, which accounts for 36% of the people in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. “Out of these, 991 408 were single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccinations, which means these are fully-vaccinated people; and 1.654 million vaccinations were for the two-dose Pfizer. “We still have 369 000 people still due for their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Regarding the booster doses, our province is currently sitting at 29 942 (32%).
We are concerned about the slower uptake of vaccinations in KwaZulu-Natal. We want to plead with citizens of the province to understand that the vaccines are safe, effective and available for free to save you. The only way we stand a chance of defeating Covid-19 is by getting everyone vaccinated. Let no one make excuses and let us avoid the cost of delay which might lead to regrets in the future. Let us vaccinate for our own sake and our loved ones. “As people will be moving and mingling, the risk of the virus, including the omicron variant, spreading to new areas remains high; hence we are asking everyone to vaccinate. We expect a busy festive season and, even under the current circumstances, we are ready to welcome holidaymakers to KwaZulu-Natal. This is a time when family members who work far from home will be uniting with their loved ones for 16 December, Christmas and the New Year’s holiday break. “As visitors start coming to our province, we wish to urge all road-users to take extra caution during this festive period because of traffic congestion. This period ends up not being a festive one, but a time of sorrow and grief for some families because of road fatalities. We do not want that,” said Zikalala.
