It's probably a logistics problem, health expert says about Gauteng's Covid-19 stats discrepancy

The discrepancy in Gauteng's Covid-19 cases could be nothing more than a logistical challenge.

This is according to African Health Research Institute deputy director Prof Thumbi Ndung'u, who said it will be difficult to determine where the discrepancy came from.

Last week, health minister Zweli Mkhize had to exclude Gauteng Covid-19 statistics from the national stats as he said the province had to reconcile its data.

“It could be as a result of a delay in updating records. The transmission of results from one testing centre could be the issue. It could simply be a logistical challenge,” Ndung’u told TimesLIVE.

Both the provincial and national health departments remain mum about what raised the alarm or where the discrepancies were found, but Gauteng’s active cases were lower than the province's Covid-19 hospitalisations.

Health ministry spokesperson Dr Lwazi Manzi said the issue was receiving attention from the province, and the national department was waiting for a report.

The Gauteng health department last released its district data on November 4, and department spokesperson Kwara Kekana said there was a data harmonisation process under way. This affected the release of daily stats.

“That process is not yet completed. We can only resume publishing once this is done,” Kekana said.

He said the province was working with the national department to fast track the process.

Ndung'u said the inaccurate numbers could hamper the province’s response to the pandemic.

“It can affect planning and readiness in terms of understanding the pandemic and how it is progressing. If it’s a once-off thing it wouldn’t be much of a challenge if corrected quickly,” he said.

Regarding restrictions, he said the infection rate in the country did not warrant a change in the lockdown level or introducing  more restrictions.

He increased vigilance would help keep infection numbers low so the country does not experience a resurgence.

Ndung'u believes tighter restrictions in hotspots could be something to consider.

“We have non-pharmaceutical approaches to prevent the spread of the infection. The main reason we seeing an increase in certain parts is that people are not adhering to those guidelines as they should,” he said.

Ndung’u said people must comply with all the regulations and stop relaxing or growing fatigued about adherence because the battle against the coronavirus continues.

National Institute for Communicable Disease (NICD) spokesperson Sinenhlnahla Jimoh said the institute could not comment on the discrepancies in Gauteng's data.

TimesLIVE