SOUTH AFRICA’s hospital admissions related to the Covid-19 virus has now breached the 15 000 mark after an increase of 827 new hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.
Of the total hospital admissions, 9 578 have been reported at private hospitals, with 5 872 in public hospitals.
With the Delta variant driving up the resurgence, weekly hospital admissions are almost as high as they were during the height of the first wave in July last year, and the total number of cases is forecast to be twice as large as during the first two waves.
According to the South African Covid-19 Modelling Consortium, data captured indicated Covid-related hospitalisations and admissions in Gauteng at the beginning of July surpassed the peak of the second wave during December 2020 and January 2021.
#COVID19 UPDATE: A total of 70,797 tests were conducted in the last 24 hrs, with 21,427 new cases, which represents a 30.3% positivity rate. A further 411 #COVID19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 63,039 to date. Read more: https://t.co/Y5vgJ5nh6W pic.twitter.com/dZl16S3qJh
— NICD (@nicd_sa) July 7, 2021
About 8 551 hospital admissions have been recorded in Gauteng, which is nearly half of all hospital admissions in the country, followed by Western Cape with over 2 000, and KwaZulu-Natal at 1 207 total admissions.
Meanwhile, the Western Cape says they have added an extra 636 intermediate Covid-19 care beds, following a spike in hospital admissions.
Premier Alan Winde said: “we are seeing an increase in admissions in the public and private healthcare facilities. We now have over 2 000 people admitted to our hospitals for Covid-19, of which 505 are in ICU or high care.
“On average, there are 1 600 new cases diagnosed each day. Test positivity has also increased to approximately 30%, and admissions, in both the public and private sector, have increased significantly to 170 a day. Covid-19-related deaths have also sadly increased to around 35 per day.”
On Wednesday The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), a division of the National Health Laboratory Service, reported 21 427 new Covid-19 cases in South Africa, taking the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2 112 336. This increase represents a 30.3% positivity rate.
The National Department of Health reports a further 411 Covid-19 related deaths, taking total fatalities to 63 039 to date.