Almost 2 000 Covid-19 Tshwane deaths in July, compared to 332 in June

Nearly 2 000 people died of Covid-related causes in the Tshwane region last month, compared to only 332 deaths the month before.

“In June, an average of 15 people died daily,” Tshwane health MMC Sakkie du Plooy said.

“However, in July we had an average of 35 deaths daily and 245 last week alone.”

This as 1 781 people succumbed to coronavirus complications in Tshwane in July, according to Gauteng stats.

Overall, Tshwane had 4 863 deaths since the pandemic started, making it the second-highest district in the province.

According to the statistics, people aged 60 and over were most affected by Covid-related deaths.

By July 26, this age group accounted for 4 315 of the province’s total of 17 079 deaths as of August 2.

Despite this, the latest statistics show that only 22.5% of people in this age group has been fully vaccinated by now as Du Plooy noted hesitancy from the public when it comes to being vaccinated.

“Even amongst our staff, there are people who do not want to get vaccinated. There are so many rumours still going around causing hesitancy amongst the people.”

In spite of increasing the number of municipal vaccination sites to 38, he said the uptake has not been what they wished for.

“We launched the weekend vaccinations last week but not many people showed up. It doesn’t seem as if people wanted to be vaccinated over the weekend.”

Recently, the provincial government set an ambitious target to vaccinate 100 000 people a day.

Du Plooy said the region aimed for 24 109 jabs daily.

He said the metro’s budget cuts have not affected their vaccination campaign.

On Friday, Gauteng health acting CEO Nomusa Mmope also raised concerns about the slow pace of people aged 60 and over as well as men over 50 going for vaccinations.

She pleaded with eligible persons to vaccinate.

Last week, the province saw a slight increase in infections while Tshwane accounted for the second-highest infections which amounted to 1 530.

Du Plooy said since then the infections have decreased.

The following Tshwane regions recorded the biggest increases:

Region one: Ga-Rankuwa, Mabopane, Winterveldt, Soshanguve, Rosslyn, Karen Park, Wonderboom, Akasia, Nina Park, Orchards, Amandasig and Theresa Park.

Region three: Atteridgeville, Laudium, Pretoria CBD, Hercules, Danville, Saulsville and Lotus Gardens.

Region four: Lyttelton, Eldoraigne, Waterkloof, Olievenhoutbosch, Rooihuiskraal, Centurion, Brooklyn and Hatfield.

Region six: Eersterust, Lethabong, Mamelodi, Silver Lakes, Garsfontein, Lynnwood, Queenswood, Wilgers, Waltloo, Equestria, Mooikloof and Brummeria.

Du Plooy said recently regions one, three, four and six had high numbers.

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