Times Of Swaziland: COVID-19 PROJECTIONS: 1 340 CASES, 36 DEATHS BY DECEMBER 29

COVID-19 PROJECTIONS: 1 340 CASES, 36 DEATHS BY DECEMBER 29
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BY SITHEMBILE HLATSHWAYO on 01/12/2021 08:58:00


MBABANE – It is projected that COVID-19 cases will rise by 1 340 by December
29, 2021, with 36 deaths.
These are the latest projections which were issued by the Ministry of Health.
Total COVID-19 cases to be recorded are 47 922 and 1 284 deaths by December 29,
2021.  As of  Tuesday, there were 46 582 cases and 1 248 deaths. The analysis of
figures compared to all waves of the virus shows that cases recorded during the
first wave totalled 6 633 and 126 deaths, while the second wave recorded 12 777
cases and 557 deaths. Total cases recorded during the third wave were at 27 128
and 565 deaths.
Wave
When reached for comment on whether the fourth wave was already upon the
country, following the rise in daily recorded cases from 10 recorded on Sunday
to 44 cases on Monday, the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, said they
considered the hikes on a weekly basis. She said following yesterday’s jump in
cases, they would be able to tell what the situation was exactly next week
considering that the cases would be recorded in the coming days. The minister
stated that around this time last year following ‘Black Friday’ they saw
cases jumping in a similar fashion, culminating in the third wave. “We are
watching this and in a week’s time, we will be able to predict how the cases
would increase determining another wave or new way of protecting the nation.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Director of Health Services Dr Velephi Okello, when questioned
on the virus behaviour since the vaccine rollout, stated that it was too soon to
determine in light of vaccination for now. Dr Okello stated that worth noting
was that despite the high transmissibility of the third wave which was driven by
the delta variant, mortality rates were relatively low. She stated that in terms
of the new variant, Omicron, there were still a lot of questions that were still
being answered and the level of preparedness was based on lessons learnt in the
previous waves. Dr Okello mentioned that the lessons learnt included the need
for additional testing sites in all regions, additional field staff to do
contact tracing and adequate fuel for field cars.
She said in relation to the above, the country had acquired eight vehicles, 24
extra field staff for contact tracing, extra budget for the fuelling and three
bulk oxygen tanks for the Lubombo Referral Hospital among other things.
Furthermore, she noted that six ambulances were now dedicated to COVID-19
patients with additional fuel support. There are 649 beds for admissions out of
which 90 are dedicated to the intensive care unit (ICU) and 133 are for high
dependency and oxygen support. Of note, she said the Mavuso Quarantine Centre
had 69 high dependency beds which were established after the third wave.  These,
she said would increase the capacity for oxygen support for patients.
The deputy director said all hospitals and healthcentres in the public sector
had isolation wards and health workers had been trained in critical care.
Furthermore, she said the ministry had good partnership with private hospitals
and clinics that also provided isolation space for their patients.