Durban – A five-month-old baby from KwaZulu-Natal has become the latest casualty in the coronavirus pandemic that had, by Monday, claimed the lives of 3 310 South Africans.
According to the KZN Department of Health, the infant is the first paediatric death in the province since the beginning of the pandemic. The baby died in hospital after being admitted with tuberculosis. No other information was made available.
The child’s death was one of 17 deaths recorded in the province on Monday in four different districts.
In total, there has been 205 deaths from Covid-19 in KwaZulu-Natal with 4 890 people recovering from the illness.
As of Monday, the KwaZulu-Natal Province recorded 789 new cases, 462 cases less than what was reported a day before.
The province contributed only 9% of the new cases reported nationally and continues to be the fourth highest countrywide.
According to the provincial health department, the province continues to experience an upsurge of cases with Ethekwini and UMgungundlovu Districts recording 60% of the daily cases.
The Ethekwini District has been recording a median of 335 cases daily (range 121-578) since 19 June 2020 while UMgungundlovu recorded a median of 72 cases/day (range 22-248 cases) since 19 June 2020.
The provincial figures come as the national figures show that the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases has increased to 205 721 and a further 111 people had died.
This represents an increase of 8971 new cases on the day more pupils returned to school.
According to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, the latest deaths – 17 from Limpopo, 9 from Eastern Cape, 35 from Western Cape, and 50 from Gauteng – bring the total number of COVID-19-related fatalities to 3 310.
The number of patients who have recovered from the coronavirus stands at 97 848, which translates to a recovery rate of 47,6%, Mkhize said.
In total, 1 864 111 tests have been completed, with 33 950 new tests reported in the past 24 hours.
