‘Dramatic’ accident spike after curfew dropped
“Heavy motor vehicle collisions also increased substantially compared to 2019 and 2020.”
Netcare 911 said motor vehicle accidents and other injuries increased “dramatically” after the Covid-19 curfew was lifted.
“Within hours of South Africans welcoming in the New Year, motor vehicle collisions and personal trauma-related injuries had increased dramatically,” said Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst.
“Heavy motor vehicle collisions also increased substantially compared to 2019 and 2020.”
Herbst said pedestrian-vehicle collisions on national roads increased, with most proving fatal.
Meanwhile, stabbings, shootings and assault with the intent of severely injuring or even killing “took us by surprise”.
He said although Netcare 911 had prepared for such events, the sheer volume proved “challenging”, considering many government medical facilities were already at Covid-19 capacity.
Tshwane emergency services spokesperson Charles Mabaso said they responded to about four incidents on New Year’s Day from 00:00 to 06:00.
“I don’t think this was due to the curfew restrictions being dropped.”
Mabaso, however, said 27 accidents were reported to the Tshwane EMS team from midnight until 07:00 on Monday morning.
“Of these accidents, one was due to a pedestrian hit by a vehicle, another a heavy vehicle accident and a motorbike accident. Twenty-two were MVA accidents, while two were a result of taxi collisions,” said Mabaso.
He said injuries of the accidents ranged from moderate to serious.
“There were critical injuries in some instances.
“The incidents were mostly because of drivers who had overturned due to them losing control of their motor vehicles, head-on-collisions and vehicles driving into stationary objects.”
Mabaso said the roads were expected to get busier. He warned motorists to be careful on the road.
The spike in accidents comes after the cabinet approved several changes to the Adjusted Alert Level 1 Covid-19 regulations, after meetings with the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) and the President’s Coordinating Council (PCC).
The decision was taken after a decline in hospital admissions in all provinces except the Western Cape.
The Department of Health reported a 29.7% drop in the number of new cases detected in the week ending December 25, 2021 (89 781), compared to the number of new cases detected the previous week (127 753).
While the Omicron variant is highly transmissible, there had been lower rates of hospitalisation than in previous waves.
“This means that the country has a spare capacity for admission of patients even for routine health services,” said Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele.
He said the NCCC would continue to closely monitor the situation and would make further adjustments as necessary, particularly if pressure on health facilities increased.
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