The uThukela District Municipality said it is very worried after learning that it is one of the areas in KwaZulu-Natal that is experiencing a spike in new Covid-19 cases.
This was revealed recently by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala during a media briefing. The province continues to rank the second-highest in terms of the number of laboratory-confirmed cases countrywide. UThukela District Municipality communications manager, Jabulani Mkhonza said all was not lost as the community, Department of Health and other stakeholders were putting up a strong fight against the pandemic. “Community screening and testing outreach teams are out there in the field covering door to door health education and community awareness campaigns through Municipal Environmental Health Practitioners (EHPs).”
He said monitoring of cases on a daily basis, close monitoring of the elderly and management of comorbidity in facilities, testing and capturing of all contacts on the Department of Health’s system was being done. In addition the district’s Covid-19 status was being shared on the Technical Command Centre and District Development Model platforms on a weekly basis. He said Covid-19 champions in different households, churches and taxi ranks were being identified to assist with educating people. He added that they were working with Ward AIDS Committees (WAC) to monitor compliance from the churches. Mkhonza said the municipality was also monitoring waste removal at health departments, schools, shops, malls, funerals, health facilities, mass gatherings and local shops etc.” The number of hospital admissions has continued to decline in the province, in keeping with a reduction in the number of new cases. KZN currently has 444 Covid-19 patients admitted in hospitals, with a recovery rate of 96%.
