Cape Town – A further 48 Covid-19-related deaths have been reported – eight from the Eastern Cape and 40
from the Western Cape – Health Minister Zweli Mkhize reported on Friday.
This brings the total number of deaths to 2 340, with the death rate dropping from 111 to 103 to 87 to 48 on consecutive days this week.
The cumulative number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in South Africa is
124 590, with the Western Cape at 46% of the overall figure, followed by Gauteng (25.2%) and the Eastern Cape (17.6%). There have been 6 282 new cases in the last 24 hours.
A total of 1 493 104 tests have been completed, of which 33 092 are new tests. The mortality rate is 1.9%, with the number of recoveries at 64 111, which translates to a recovery rate of 51.5%.
Data supplied by the Department of Health
Meanwhile, an overwhelmed Durban health worker, Dr Swasti Singh, who works in an intensive-care unit, has taken to social media to warn people not to let the statistics lull them into complacency.
“Leave the statistics out for now. I am making an observation based on my experiences. What my colleagues and I have seen in the past week is beyond words," Singh, who semi-isolating after exposure to a high-risk patient on Tuesday night, wrote on Facebook.
"We are overwhelmed, afraid and shocked. I cannot go into the details of my ICU but what I can say is that you don’t want to be there as a patient nor do you want your loved ones to be there.
“The public needs to be educated about the seriousness of the situation and should refrain from taking it so lightly.
“Nurses and doctors are working more than they have ever had to work in their careers. I am talking about nurses with diabetes, asthma, hypertension. They are risking their lives for everyone despite being high-risk themselves.
“Covid-19 is not a joke. It is not something we should take lightly. The easing of the lockdown does not mean we should be relaxed.
“I am astounded as to how many people are walking around with no masks and if they do have a mask they are not wearing it properly…
“Just remember that we have not reached our peak and our ICU beds are reaching full capacity in just a short period of time."