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By Nicola Daniels, Siphokazi Vuso, Karen Singh 
1 hour ago
Cape Town – Covid-19 hospital admissions in the Western Cape have increased by 409%.
This emerged on Thursday when provincial authorities detailed the rise in local Covid-19 cases, a day after Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize confirmed that the country was experiencing a second wave and that the Western Cape it was one of the areas identified as key drivers.
Provincial health chief Keith Cloete said at a digital press conference Thursday that there was an average 53.4% increase in new cases, no longer driven by the Garden Route but by the subway.
Hospitalizations had also increased dramatically since mid-November, reaching 1,615 on Thursday.
“During the month of November, Covid-19 admissions have increased by 409% and continue to increase as we continue the resurgence.
“In the same context, trauma admissions have increased with each relaxation of alcohol regulations.
“The relaxation of retail sales and the extension of the overnight curfew, in particular, saw a 36.2% increase in trauma admissions,” he said.
Health worker infections also continued to rise, with 204 cases in the past seven days.
As cases increased, contact tracing was straining due to lack of resources to conduct testing.
The province has 18,296 active Covid-19 infections with a total of 146,743 cases and 123,477 recoveries. The latest update on Thursday showed that 66 additional deaths were recorded, bringing the total number to 4,970.
Provincial Health Department spokesman Mark van der Heever said metropolitan hospitals operated at 81% with 861 open beds and rural hospitals at 84% with 415 available beds.
“The use of oxygen has increased in line with the increase in cases (46% of available capacity) and the mass fatality center has admitted 483 bodies to date (currently 14),” said Van der Heever.
Acute care capacity in the Western Cape would begin to fail if the growth of trauma and Covid-19 cases continues to grow at the current rate, warned Prime Minister Alan Winde.
“We cannot allow this to happen. The most important tool at our disposal is still individual behavior. Drink responsibly this holiday season. If you are in a car accident during this time, there may not be a bed for you due to the number of people in our hospitals at this time.
So please take care of yourself and your loved ones and stay safe, ”Winde said. Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of the humanitarian organization Gift of the Givers, said he had received calls from hospital coordinators seeking help.
“Mitchells Plain is very affected and Khayelitsha needs a lot of support. We expect requests from all over the Western Cape.
“Unfortunately they want more oxygen points at Mitchells Plain Hospital. Khayelitsha also needs oxygen. These hospitals need oxygen flow meters, connectors for flow meters, pulse oximeters and hand sanitizers, ”he said.
The second wave of Covid-19 has been worse than the first for half of the countries that have experienced a resurgence of the virus, according to epidemiologist and infectious disease specialist Professor Salim Abdool Karim.
Speaking at the 2020 Graduate Research and Innovation Symposium in Durban on Thursday, Karim said that with the journey expected to begin on December 16, due to the closure of schools, factories and large industries, the provinces with fewer numbers would start to show increases in infections.
“You only have to look at Europe to know that things are going badly. The second wave when it hits you is really devastating and we are seeing it country after country, ”he said.
Abdool Karim said that most of the South African virus came from Europe.
He said that Spain, Belgium and the United Kingdom experienced their epidemics quickly, all have had small spikes and have already had their second peaks.
“In Belgium, the second epidemic has just hit them. They ran out of beds. “
In terms of the world average, Abdool Karim said that South Africa expected 66 days to elapse from the end of the first increase to the beginning of the second.
“We were lucky because that period of time was much longer.
“We were there more than 100 days before we started our second increase,” he said.
Another anticipated problem was that when South Africa received the vaccines, the research indicated that only two out of three people would take the vaccine, he said.
Abdool Karim warned that it would possibly take three years to vaccinate 58 million South Africans.
“We need to vaccinate about 40 million people to get herd immunity. It’s going to take a long time to get to 40 million, ”he said.
Cape times
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