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By IOL Reporter 
8h ago
Cape Town – Less than 1,000 new cases of coronavirus were registered in the country on Monday, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.
“As of today, the cumulative number of detected Covid-19 cases is 650,749, with 956 new cases identified,” Mkhize said in a statement.
Sadly, we reported 52 more Covid-19-related deaths: 2 from KwaZulu-Natal, 3 from Gauteng, 4 from Eastern Cape, 7 from Western Cape, 15 from North West, and 21 from Free State.
“This brings the total number of Covid-19 related deaths to 15,499. Our recoveries are now 579,289, which translates to a recovery rate of 88.9%.”
Status of the Covid-19 pandemic: trends
” The number of cases detected throughout the country continues to decline. Since August 22, we have reported fewer than 3,000 cases a day; at the height of the epidemic in July, we would report 10,000-15,000 cases a day.
” Supporting this decline is also a demonstrable decline in people under investigation, general ward admissions, ICU admissions, deaths, and excess deaths.
“The consistency between these indicators assures us that we are, in fact, in the midst of a depression in the pandemic.”
Analysis of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases – case management
” The NICD Covid Surveillance in Selected Hospitals Report of September 11, 2020 describes analyzes of data collected in 459 public and private facilities across the country.
” This report shows a clear change in the behavior of the epidemic, with downward trends in admissions and deaths in general wards and ICUs. In total, 66,515 patients were studied, with 4,314 currently admitted.
” The hospital discharge rate was 75%, while the in-hospital fatality rate was 17.5%. The median age for admissions was 50 to 59 years and the median age for deaths was 60 to 69 years.
“At the height of the epidemic, these sample hospitals reported between 6,400 and 6,800 admissions per week.”
Analysis by the World Health Organization
” South Africa has benefited significantly from the contributions of the World Health Organization emergency team that has come to strengthen our team in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
” The WHO emergency team released a situation report on September 10, 2020 reflecting week 37 of our epidemic, confirming the decline as reported by NICD.
This report showed a 42% decrease in detected cases in the previous two weeks and a 28.9% decrease in deaths in the same period.
Admissions to intensive care wards increased by 13.9 percent during this epidemic week, but conversely, admissions to general wards decreased by 43% in the same period. The mean test positivity rate was 9.8% compared to 11.4% the previous week. “
#Listen to the experts
After months of isolation, we are all ready to see family and friends. But the last thing we want is to put anyone in danger. Infectious disease specialist Professor Shaheen Mehtar offers some advice on how to reduce the risk of these interactions. pic.twitter.com/iwOPG19YHk– Dr. Zweli Mkhize (@DrZweliMkhize) September 14, 2020
Bed occupancy and oxygen demand
” Bed occupancy and oxygen demand are also decreasing. The percentage of beds currently occupied by Covid-19 patients nationwide is less than 10% for non-ICU beds and less than 30% for ICU beds.
” The benefit that we have seen during this period is that there has been a greater acquisition of ventilators, with 5,444 acquired or received through donations and 2,848 awaiting delivery.
” This has helped us improve our facilities as ventilators were in short supply and there would have been a delay in providing required medical care to patients who needed it most.
” It also led us in the direction of increasing local manufacturing capacity, which resulted in South Africa manufacturing fans for the first time in history. 20,000 ventilators are expected to be produced through the National Ventilator Project.
“We also have reports from Afrox indicating that oxygen demand has decreased nationwide in recent weeks.”
Restrictions under review
In previous statements regarding the restrictions under the National State of Disaster, we committed to reviewing them periodically as we reassess the state of the epidemic in South Africa and this is what we have done.
” Having observed evidence suggesting a sustained decline in the transmission of the coronavirus, as the Department of Health, we have considered easing restrictions on various aspects, such as curfew, sale of alcohol, religious gatherings and travel restrictions, to the National Coronavirus Command Council. , which will make final recommendations to the cabinet.
“Regardless of the decisions that are made, it is important to emphasize that the risk of spreading and contracting Covid-19 still remains and that non-pharmaceutical interventions remain important as we learn to coexist with the coronavirus.”
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa will chair the National Council for Labor and Economic Development meeting on Tuesday.
He will also chair the meeting of the President’s Coordinating Council, which includes ministers, prime ministers and leaders of the South African Association of Local Governments.
“The meeting is expected to deliberate on a report from the National Coronavirus Command Council on the country’s response to the pandemic,” the Presidency said Monday.
MESS
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