Sustained increase in Covid-19 infection rate in KwaZulu-Natal
Since the start of the pandemic the Ugu District has recorded 18 441 confirmed cases; 601 deaths, while 17 121 people have recovered from the disease.
KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Premier Sihle Zikalala warned that while the Covid-19 cases in the province are still fluctuating and not yet at a peak, there are worrying signs of what appears to be a sustained increase in the infection rate.
About a month ago, KZN was registering an average of 130 to 150 new infections and sometimes the figure would go as low as 70 to 80 cases.
However, over the past two weeks or so, the province has been recording more than 500 new cases each day, with only few exceptions, where the number would be around 400.
He said the province crossed the resurgence line on June 9, but then dropped below the alert threshold on 10 June 10. On June 15, it again crossed the alert line, but currently it has remained below the threshold since June 16.
“In terms of our emergency early warning systems, a 10% increase in cases over a seven day moving average will trigger an alert, while a 20% increase in cases over a seven day moving average will trigger resurgence, which may indicate that we are entering a third wave of Covid–19 infections.
“Be that as it may, there are many signs that Covid–19 is still around, and deadly as ever.”
He said KZN has been extremely fortunate that the infection numbers are still where they are.
But we want to make one thing clear, the fact that our numbers are relatively low, should under no circumstances mean that we must be complacent,” the Premier warned.
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