KZN sails smoothly towards level 1 – KZN Premier

With declining Covid-19 cases, KwaZulu-Natal is sailing smoothly towards Alert Level 1. 

This is according to KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, who said the province was well placed to relax its security measures. 

“We can confirm that as KwaZulu-Natal we are heading for a smooth passage to Alert Level 1,” he said during the weekly Covid-19 meetings at the eThekwini Disaster Management Centre.

“We really have come a long way as a nation, and as a province, in our battle against Covid-19. We have moved from the confusion, fear, panic and anxiety that marked the early stages of its outbreak. We have done very well to heed the call by the government that this is a disease that needs to be de-mystified and understood, so that we could be better-placed to contain its spread, and protect ourselves from acquiring it, or passing it on to others.”

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Looking at the latest trends on infections, Zikalala revealed that active cases and hospital admissions have reduced drastically. 

• The median number of cases reported dropped to 233 cases/daily (range 79-371).
• Over the past two weeks, the province has registered 3 209 new infections, and 268 deaths. 3500 and 3900 new infections in one day. 
• A total of 7 360 health care workers (HCWs) were infected with Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. Above 70 per cent of the infected HCWs have recovered with 88 deaths.
• On 19 September 2020, the province had 640 patients admitted in both private (n=466, 73 per cent) and public (n=174, 27 per cent) hospitals.
• Of those admitted, 115 patients (18 per cent) required intensive care services.
• Private hospitals had more patients in ICU (92 per cent, n=106) than public facilities (8 per cent, n=9)

Zikalala warned that there are still dangers of a second wave if people stop adhering to health precautions. “While the noticeable decline in the rate of new Covid-19 infections and deaths is a welcome development, there is no shortage of examples where countries have experienced a second and more powerful wave of Covid-19 infections and deaths,” he said.

Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting

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At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.  

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