By: Kaya 959 News
The World Health Organisation has reported a significant increase in the number of COVID-19-related deaths across the continent.
WHO said there has also been an increase in hospital admissions as country’s struggle to find oxygen and beds in ICU.
“Fatalities increased to 6273 in the week ending on 11 July 2021 from 4384 deaths in the previous week. Africa is now less than 1% shy of the weekly peak reached in January when 6294 deaths were recorded. Namibia, South Africa, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia accounted for 83% of the new deaths recorded in the past week,” the WHO said.
The continent’s case fatality rate, which is the proportion of deaths among confirmed cases, currently stands at 2.6% against the global average of 2.2%.
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In South Africa, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases announced an increase of 16,435 new coronavirus cases.
The NICD said this brings the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 2,253,240.
“As per the National Department of Health, a further 377 Covid-19 related deaths have been reported, bringing total fatalities to 65 972 to date,” it said.
The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (44%), followed by Western Cape (18%). Limpopo and North West each accounted for 9%; Mpumalanga accounted for 7%; Eastern Cape accounted for 5%; Free State and KwaZulu-Natal each accounted for 3%; and Northern Cape accounted for 2% of yesterday’s new cases.
The NICD said that although the number of positive cases appears to be decreasing, testing is critical for understanding the spread of COVID-19 infection.
“It’s crucial to remember that the testing data is representative of those who came forward for testing, not necessarily a reflection of current community transmission in South Africa. Testing data is used to identify cases and follow up of contacts to limit transmission. This data is also used to predict, plan and deploy resources for risk mitigation,” it said.
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