Incidence risk study stirs up panic over Covid situation
A bar graph indicating a study into the incidence risk of Covid-19 within the Steve Tshwete community has mongered fear under residents who are sharing the statistics far and wide.
The graph is part of an Epidemiology study into the sub districts of Mpumalanga, that assess the incident risk of Covid-19 transmissions per 100 000 population for each sub district.
Meanwhile, residents fearfully speculate that the information being shared indicates that the Middelburg area has the most active cases.
The media spokesperson for the Mpumalanga Department of Health, Christopher Nobela, explained that while the Steve Tshwete district is one of the province’s hotspots, the bi-weekly updates on current statistics for the area still indicates that Mbombela has the highest number of active cases.
“Steve Tshwete is a hotspot because of the mines and the high volume of traffic between Middelburg and eMalahleni.”
He reminded residents that this information should not be shared or read out of context and that the statistics continue to change every day as new data is made available.
