DURBAN: KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala has expressed concern at the number of people succumbing to Covid-19 at home.
In giving an update on the province's Covid-19 statistics on Sunday, Zikalala said at least 227 Covid-19 positive people died at home. He added that the number could be higher.
“This is because of the high number of people who are dying at home, but their mortal remains do not get tested before they are buried. We are, therefore, once again urging families to allow or request funeral parlours to test these human remains for Covid-19. This is a service that the Department of Health offers, free of charge.
“It is extremely important that we properly document these deaths, because they inform our approaches and strategies to save lives in future,” Zikalala said.
The premier noted an upsurge in cases in eThekwini, Umgungundlovu, King Cetshwayo, Zululand, Umkhanyakude, and Ilembe. He said these districts have, for the past three weeks, had continuously higher numbers – with eThekwini accounting for more than 40% cases daily.
Zikalala said the overall percentage change in the number of new cases, between week 33 and 34, was 33%.
He said the actual number of new cases recorded was 15 333 for week 33; and 22 817 for week 34, respectively.
“This increase in the number of new cases was noted across the province. The number of daily hospital admissions has also increased, in both private and public hospitals. Over the past week, 2 648 people were admitted in public and private hospitals," he said.
KZN has a total of 476 193 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 61 027 active cases, 13 475 deaths and 400 827 recoveries.
IOL