Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal health department says although it is worried about the surge in Covid-19 cases, they are confident that they have enough beds to deal with increasing numbers of cases in the province.
On Sunday, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala confirmed that the province had officially entered the third wave of Covid-19 with KZN having recorded more than 3 000 cases daily.
The province currently has over 40 000 active Covid-19 cases, surpassing Gauteng at 18 000, and has registered 12 535 deaths overall due to the pandemic.
The number of daily hospital isolations increases steadily in both the private and public sectors, including ICU and patients requiring ventilation. About 2 136 people are admitted, with 278 in ICU and 109 on life-saving machines.
Provincial head of health, Dr Sandile Tshabalala, said they have sufficient bed space to cope with a resurgence in Covid-19 infection.
“We are worried about the increasing numbers of people getting infected and what’s mostly of concern is the number of people that need to be in ICU or high care. So far we are able to handle the numbers,” Tshabalala said.
Tshabalala said they are also concerned about the number of young people being infected with Covid-19 in the province, with schools emerging as the biggest contributor.
More than 120 schools in the province have reported clusters in their school settings, and more than 800 learners and teachers have been affected, with learners making up at least 95% of this number, while educators account for the remaining 5%.
The province continues to rank fourth highest in terms of fatalities countrywide, contributing 16% of the deaths, following the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Western Cape.
On the vaccination front, over 1.7 million vaccines have been administered in the province.