‘Significant’ drop in new Tshwane Covid infections

The latest statistics have shown a significant drop in Covid-19 infections in Tshwane this week.

This as the region recorded an over-7 000 drop in active infections this week with 17 338 infections as of Sunday compared to 25 491 the previous week, according to Tshwane mayor Randall Williams.

A similar drop can be seen in the rest of the province, which has now passed the peak for the third wave in infections.

Williams described the drop as good news as daily average infection cases are now only between 1 000 and 2 000, compared to a daily average ranging between 2000 and 3 000 at the beginning of July.

“This significant decrease in Covid-19 active cases is welcome,” Williams said.

Tshwane previous week recorded infections:

– 14 July, Wednesday: 2 473

– 15 July, Thursday: 2 637

– 16 July, Friday: 1 667

– 17 July, Saturday: 2 024

– 18 July, Sunday: 1 372

Despite the drop, Williams urged residents to remain vigilant and continue to stick to Covid regulations designed to reduce the spread of the virus.

“I would also like to encourage qualifying residents to register for vaccination,” he said.

“I want to encourage all qualifying residents to register to receive their vaccines.”

Tshwane hospitals were hit hard during the third wave, as several private hospitals were full and public hospitals had to expand their Covid wards due to the high number of cases.

Overall, the region has recorded 225 054 infections, 203 351 recoveries and 4 365 deaths thus far.

Tshwane district 3 (that includes areas such as Atteridgeville, Laudium, Pretoria CBD, Hercules, Danville, Saulsville and Lotus Gardens recorded) some of the highest cases.

Tshwane district 1 (that includes Ga-Rankuwa, Mabopane Winterveldt, Soshanguve and Rosslyn) and region 6 (including Eersterust, Lethabong, Mamelodi, Silverlakes and Garsfontein) also had a large number of cases.

On Friday, Gauteng premier David Makhura said the province, which was at the epicentre of the third wave, had reached the peak; however, he raised concerns that numbers were still high.

The province had seen a levelled trajectory in recorded daily infections from Saturday, July 3 with 16 091 recorded cases marked as the highest recorded since the outbreak.

Between 27 June and 4 July, the province recorded 81 127 infections.

Despite reaching this peak, Makhura said the healthcare system remained strained.

“The increase in hospital admissions continues to place a heavy strain on the health system in both public and private sectors.”

As of July 15, the total in-hospital patient admissions were 9 063 (3 429 for the public sector and 5 634 for the private sector).

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