DURBAN - THE KwaZulu-Natal provincial government is monitoring the recoveries and deaths of patients who were vaccinated and those who were not vaccinated when they get admitted to public hospitals.
On Sunday, Premier Sihle Zikalala said the number of daily hospital admissions had increased in public and private hospitals. During the past week, 2 648 people were admitted in public and private hospitals.
He said the Department of Health has started questioning whether those admitted were vaccinated. This will help the department establish scientifically how many of them recover and how many lose their lives.
He said hospital admissions between February 16 and August 14, 2021, totalled 13 119.
“It concerns us that, of the total admissions for this period, only 3% or 384 were vaccinated; while 57% or 7 523 had unknown vaccination status and 40%, or 5 212, had not been vaccinated.”
Zikalala said while more data was being collected and a more detailed analysis was being conducted, which would provide scientific and medical explanations to this; at face value, it appeared that the majority of people in hospital and those who sadly passed away were not vaccinated.
“We have also observed that the majority of vaccinated people faced mild symptoms and were quickly discharged from hospitals. It does appear from these preliminary observations (again, which are yet to be confirmed scientifically and medically) that if you are vaccinated you stand a better chance of fighting successfully against Covid-19.”
Zikalala added that they were concerned about the 227 Covid-19 positive people that died at home and that the number could be higher. That was because of the high number of people who were dying at home, but their mortal remains were not tested before they were buried.
He urged families to allow or request funeral parlours to test human remains for Covid-19, which was a free service from the Health Department.
The premier said the province had breached the 2 million vaccination mark last week.
“We are also very encouraged by the positive response that has been shown by young people aged from 18 onwards who have come forward to get vaccinated, since they became eligible for this a few days ago.”
Zikalala said so far 216 754 people aged between 18 and 34 had registered and 55 302 of them have been vaccinated between August 20 and 27. The group gave them an average of 7 000 daily vaccinations.
Zikalala added that the province recorded more than 1 100 Covid-19 cases in 350 schools over the past three weeks.
“These numbers are increasing daily; and more pupils are testing positive. Sadly, the pandemic has claimed the lives of two 12-year-old schoolchildren, as well as a 9-year-old.”
He said the Education Department was intensifying non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce the spread of the virus in schools.
They also observed clusters in other congregants settings, such as boarding schools, mental health facilities, centres for the visually impaired and old-age homes.
Daily News