Despite fears intensifying throughout the province, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala has assured KwaZulu-Natal is not in the grips of the third wave. “In terms of our emergency early warning systems, a 10% increase in cases over a 7-day moving average will trigger an alert; while a 20% increase in cases over a 7-day moving average will trigger resurgence, which may indicate that we are entering a third wave of COVID – 19 infections.” Therefore, authorities will continue to monitor trends and signals of a resurgence within the province.
Even though KwaZulu-Natal is not in a third wave, the surge in numbers is troubling. “The overall percentage change in the number of new cases between Week 21 and 22 was 24%. The actual number of new cases were 726 for Week 21; and 900 for Week 22 respectively,” confirmed Zikalala. And when focussing on the Amajuba District, the Premier pointed out that the District is the only one reaching the alert line, with cases increasing over the three previous weeks. According to the KZN Department of Health, as of Tuesday, 8 June 2021, the Amajuba District noted 13 103 reported cases, 12 266 recoveries and 658 deaths.
Providing insight and guidance, Mediclinic Newcastle General Manager Japie Greyling explained, “Mediclinic Newcastle can confirm that, as is the case across the region and country, we have noted a strong, sudden and sustained increase in the number of COVID-19 patients presenting for care.” As such, Mediclinic Newcastle is implementing additional measures to increase capacity. Greyling adds, “The hospital has implemented a system to isolate Covid-19 positive and negative patients.” At this point in time, he assures elective surgery continues safely.
Concluding, Greyling states, “Mediclinic Newcastle encourages the members of our community to continue to seek medical attention for all medical conditions, even those unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic and we call on all members of the community to continue to practice all the necessary preventative measure to reduce the risk of contracting the coronavirus.”
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