Gauteng records 'significant decline' in number of Covid-19 hospital admissions

Johannesburg still accounts for the majority of the Covid-19 infections in Gauteng, with 90,864 cases and 1,777 deaths.

By Thursday, the province had recorded 228,128 Covid-19 cumulative cases and 4,717 related deaths.   

This is according to provincial health spokesperson Kwara Kekana, who added that 207,316 recoveries had been recorded.  

This as 1,868 people were currently hospitalised with the virus in public and private facilities across the province.

The admissions were not cause for concern as the province had seen a decline in the daily admissions, the department said in a statement.

The provincial command council said of the admitted patients, 448 were in ICU and high care and 1,420 in general wards.

“There has been a significant decline in the daily new hospital admissions. The highest number of hospital admissions was recorded in the middle of July. The highest recorded daily new admissions was over 320 with the total number of admitted patients being 7,193 and 1,863 patients on oxygen on July 22.”

Kekana said a total of 150,903 contacts were identified and traced, the majority of whom had been cleared of the virus.

A breakdown of the deaths provided by the council indicates:

• 2,513 (53%) were male and 2,204 (47%) female.

• 4,141 (88%) were between the ages of 40 and 89; 60-69 (25%) and 70-79 (21%).

.• These were followed by the age group 30-39, 259 (5.5%), and 90-99, 133 (3%).

• 2,870 (61%) were 60 years or older, and 1,793 (38%) younger than 60.

The death analyses shows that 56% of the recorded deaths occurred within a week of diagnosis/admission, while 10% of the deaths occurred within a day or just hours after the diagnosis.

The council also revealed that 2,589 of those who had died had diabetes and/or hypertension.

The report revealed that 10.991 public servants had tested positive since March. These included public health workers and educators.  

“There is ongoing decontamination of all public buildings regularly as part of the measures to combat the spread of Covid-19. As part of continuous medical surveillance protocol, public servants undergo daily screening and some are referred for testing,” the council said.

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