Cape Town – A total of 240 healthcare workers have succumbed to Covid-19 in South Africa – 37 from the private sector and 203 from the public sector.
This was stated on Thursday by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, who said the data was verified on August 4.
The overall infection rate among 27 360 healthcare workers – 6 027 (22%) from the private sector and 21 333 (78%) from the public sector – compared to the total number of cases identified nationally is 5%, which is well below the global average of 10%, Mkhize said.
A total of 1 644 (6%) of these healthcare workers were doctors, 14 143 (52%) nurses, 28 (less than 1%) port health workers and 11 545 (42%) from other categories of health workers.
’’The mortality rate among healthcare workers is 0.9%. The number of healthcare workers reported to have recovered as at 4 August 2020 is 16 005, which translates to a 58% recovery rate among health workers,’’ Mkhize said.
The highest number of deaths have been recorded in the Eastern Cape (85), followed by Gauteng (43), the Western Cape (38) and KwaZulu-Natal (30).
’’Sadly, 240 of our healthcare workers have succumbed to Covid-19: 37 from the private sector and 203 from the public sector,’’ Mkhize said.
’’We salute these fallen soldiers and pay tribute to them for their commitment to serving the people of South Africa right until the very end.
’’We extend our condolences to all the family, friends and colleagues of these valuable members of society.“
Commenting on the number of active cases among healthcare workers as at August 7, Mkhize said they had registered 7 500 active cases, of which 751 (10%) were being hospitalised, 6 557 (87%) were in self-isolation and 192 (3%) were being isolated at a facility.
’’We wish all healthcare workers currently battling Covid-19 a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming them back to the workforce when they are fully recovered,’’ Mkhize said.
IOL