WHILE the eThekwini District continued to record the highest number of new cases daily, according to KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala, the province has observed a decline in the number of new cases weekly.
Speaking during a briefing earlier yesterday, Zikalala said KZN has the second-highest number of laboratory-confirmed cases.
"The overall percentage change in the number of new cases between week three and four amounted to a decline of 51%. The actual number of cases was 22 680 for week three and 11 099 for week four. Over the past week, the highest number of cases received was 2 079, which was last week Tuesday. The average number of cases recorded daily was 1 777 cases per day," he said.
Zikalala said due to its population size, among other factors, eThekwini still averaged the highest numbers with King Cetshwayo District following in at a close second.
"Recently, King Cetshwayo District has been recording the second highest number of cases daily, and in fact, there were days whereby King Cetshwayo recorded more cases than eThekwini District," he said.
The premier expressed concerns over the number of deaths in KZN in the last two weeks.
Within the province, uMgungundlovu District has the highest death rate (124 deaths/100 000 population) followed by eThekwini District (85 deaths/100 000 population), Amajuba District (81 deaths/100 000 population) and King Cetshwayo District (81 deaths/100 000 population).
Commenting on the numbers of people needing hospitalisation, Zikalala said there has been a noted decline in both the public and private sector.
This, he said, is also in line with the incidence and positivity rate.
Zikalala said the number of admissions started increasing steadily from December 1, and then declined from January 17-23.
"The number of ICU patients has remained constant for the month of January 2020. The province currently has 3 601 patients admitted in both private and public hospitals as at January 31. Of those admitted, 483 patients required intensive care services. Among those who required intensive care, 44% were being ventilated," he said.
IOL