The first wave lasted 106 days, the second 92 days, the third 120 days, and fourth 64 days. Picture: African News Agency
Cape Town - The Western Cape Health and Wellness Department says that the province is on a good trajectory, with a severe drop in Covid-19 cases and other key indicators.
The Standing Committee on Health was briefed by the department on the status of Covid-19 and the vaccine rollout in the province on Friday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated the excess mortality from the Covid-19 pandemic, from January 1, 2020, to January 31 this year, stood at 14.9 million.
Western Cape Health and Wellness Department director of health intelligence, Dr Melvin Moodley, said: “So about 15 million people are estimated to have died from Covid-19 worldwide. That is close to the estimates that you read of people who died from World War 1.”
According to a modelling study conducted by the Imperial College of London, in the first year of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, 19.8 million lives were estimated to have been saved.
The first wave lasted 106 days, the second 92 days, the third 120 days, and fourth 64 days. The department has seen a 9% drop in hospital admissions, with one Covid-19 death a day.
The department is studying a change in variant, with eight pieces slightly different from others. “We are not overly concerned. We think it’ll be very similar to Omicron;our protection from vaccination and previous infection will remain,” Moodley said.
The department reported four unlinked cases of measles in the Western Cape.
“They are not linked so it’s not an outbreak but we are very worried, in the country and in the entire world because of Covid-19 decreased vaccination rates ... so the potential for measles outbreaks is very high. We get very concerned because it has a huge impact on children and even adults when we have measles outbreaks,” Moodley said.
Committee chairperson Wendy Kaiser Philander said the Covid-19 ad hoc committee had been dissolved and all portfolios would ask the Department of Health and Wellness for updates on the status of Covid-19 in the province.
shakirah.thebus@inl.co.za