NELSON MANDELA BAY - MAYOR SAYS VACCINATE AS 15 DIE FROM COVID-19 RELATED COMPLICATIONS IN 1 DAY

The Nelson Mandela Bay recorded 15 new COVID-19 related deaths in hospitals on Monday with the private hospitals recording six deaths and the public hospitals recording nine deaths.

This was reported during the City’s Joint Operating Centre meeting on Tuesday where various stakeholders including the Department of Health discussed the City’s state in fighting the deadly virus.

Following the meeting, NMBM Executive Mayor, Cllr Nqaba Bhanga said: “Monday was not a good day in our City as we learnt that we lost 15 people in just one day in our hospitals. In the last seven days there were 31 COVID-19 deaths recorded. This leaves us with a total of 3386 deaths since the pandemic broke out in our City. This is a huge loss and we wish to convey our condolences to the affected families.”

“With Alert Level 3 currently in place and the relaxation of regulations we are faced with increasing active cases. With the schools re-opened we have noticed an increase in the number of active cases. Currently there are 108 active cases in the age group between 10-14 years, 177 cases affecting children between the ages 15-19 years. This is a concern as we all know that while children are resilient and recover quickly, the elders they live with, might not be so lucky.”

With a total of 2513 active cases recorded in the City on Monday, the highest active cases were recorded within the 45-49 age group with 272 cases, followed by 276 cases amongst the 35-39 year-olds.

“The age groups that have the most active cases in our City, are eligible to get vaccinated. While we are aware that the vaccine does not guarantee that one will not be infected with COVID-19 again, we do need our residents to get vaccinated as the current hospital admissions actually tell us that our people are not vaccinating at the rate they should be. A total of 299 patients are currently in hospital for COVID-19, with 204 in the private hospitals and 95 in the public hospitals. Getting vaccinated reduces the symptoms and hospital admissions,” the Mayor said.

“We are calling on all our residents to play their part by vaccinating and adhering to the regulations in place.”

NMBM