DURBAN - The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health fears there may be a Covid-19 resurgence in the province after more than 1 700 new cases were reported in one day.
Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane sounded the alarm in a statement on Saturday after the number of new cases rose to 1 742 over a 24-hour reporting period on April 30.
The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) reported more than 1 100 new cases were reported in KZN.
The NICD said more than 3 800 new Covid-19 cases were identified across South Africa, which brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 795 763. This increase represents a 22% positivity rate.
In KZN, Simelane said eThekwini Municipality accounted for at least 80% of the new cases, followed by uMgungundlovu District at 7%, and Ilembe at 5%.
She said while there was a steady climb last week, Saturday was the first time in months the number of new infections pushed the seven-day average from 414 to 1 171.
Simelane also raised concern about the rising number of patients hospitalised for Covid-19.
She said of the 437 people currently admitted in public and private hospitals for Covid-19, 47 were in ICU and nine on ventilators, while a week ago KZN had 342 people hospitalised with Covid-19, including 44 in ICU and 11 on oxygen.
The MEC said that in terms of their emergency early warning systems, a 10% increase in cases over a seven-day moving average will trigger an alert, while a 20% increase in cases over a seven-day moving average, which is what they have seen, may trigger a resurgence.
“So, indeed, these latest statistics are of huge concern to us. Clearly, something is happening. At this stage, we’re not sure whether this is the fifth wave or not, but these developments are cause for concern. That is why we are urging all the people of this province to stay alert and to practise all the necessary precautions, such as wearing face masks, maintaining social distancing and washing their hands regularly with soap and water or hand sanitiser,” said Simelane.
More then 16 000 people have lost their lives to the virus in the province, and to date KZN has fully vaccinated 2.7 million people while a total of 4.4 million have not received a vaccine.
“We are pleading with those who have not been vaccinated to come forward and get the jab. This is for their own good, because people who are not vaccinated are more likely to be infected with Covid-19 and more likely to transmit Covid-19 to others. They are also at a much higher risk of dying from the infection compared to vaccinated people,” she said.
Senior researcher at the CSIR Dr Ridhwaan Suliman posted graphs on Sunday showing the week on week percentage changes of Covid-19 in South Africa, the average daily test positivity rates per week, average daily hospital admissions and average daily Covid-19 deaths per week.
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