SOUTH AFRICA - CONCERN GROWS AS SA RECORDS 1ST COVID-19 DEATH OF PATIENT WITH NO UNDERLYING MEDICAL CONDITIONS

South Africa has recorded its first COVID-19 death of a patient who had no underlying medical condition – a 57-year-old man who succumbed to the virus. 

This was revealed by Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize speaking at a media briefing in Pietermaritzburg on Monday evening.

Mkhize says South African now has 2 272 confirmed coronavirus cases, up by 99 from the last figure 2 173. COVID-19 deaths have risen to 27.

Mkhize says one of the deaths is a 68-year-old man who had underlying diabetes and chronic renal disease.

“The latest number of positive cases today is recorded at 2 272. That means we’ve got 99 new recorded cases. Regrettably, we have also recorded two deaths; one from the Western Cape, a 68-year-old man who came in with acute respiratory distress with underlying diseases of diabetes and chronic renal disease. But the one in Gauteng is the one who is causing concern to me. He’s a 57-year-old man who was confirmed to be positive.”

The health minister says they have identified 11 406 contacts of people who tested positive.

“At this point, we have managed to screen 438 815 people in the whole country. And we have referred out of that total, 4 537 people for testing who have gone into various government facilities for testing. We have also identified contacts of the people who have been found to be positive; 11 406 contacts. Of those, already 9 675 have already been identified and interviewed.”

SA COVID-19 Curve

Epidemiologist Professor Salim Abdool Karim says statistics show that South Africa may have beaten the curve on COVID-19. He was participating in a debate with Mkhize and health professionals on the coronavirus pandemic.

Professor Karim says that since the lockdown was implemented on 26 March, the case numbers appear to be stabilising.

“So, when you look at this curve, what you can see is that we were on a simple trajectory like every other country, increasing rapidly day by day. And then suddenly on the 26th of March, it turned and started going down again and as it went down, it reached a point somewhere around 60-70 cases a day and it sort of hovered around there. Not a single country that we’ve seen has this kind of turn.”

Scientists have warned against an abrupt and sudden end to the nationwide lockdown. They are also participating in the COVID-19.

Professor Karim says an abrupt end of the lockdown puts the country at risk of undoing all the progress that it has made so far.

“We know that if we end the lockdown and we end it abruptly, we may run the risk of undoing all of the effort and the benefit we’ve achieved because then we’ll be putting high risk and low risk people together, travelling in the same buses, taxis and trains. We have to do something about it. We have to avoid that situation and so, we need to think about and plan for a systematic easing of the lockdown, starting with transport hubs and then working our way down from the lowest risk to the highest risk.”

via - SABC