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Sunday Times writes that SA is breathing a collective sigh of relief as Covid-19 infections drop to their lowest level since the first few weeks of the pandemic, but for SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) scientist Professor Debbie Bradshaw there’s a growing tragedy that can’t be ignored.
An estimated 268,183 South Africans have lost their lives to the virus, three times more than the official death toll. One of the reasons official Covid-19 deaths are lower than the true figure is because only deaths in hospitals are counted. Even in hospitals, “some patients die from Covid before they have been tested while others are dead on arrival in an ambulance”, said Bradshaw. Another reason is the time lag caused by SA’s paper-based system for detailed cause of death data. The forms doctors complete are submitted to the home affairs department before going to Stats SA. “Forms from 2020 are still being processed [at home affairs] and Stats SA is currently working on deaths from 2019,” Bradshaw pointed out. She and her team use data from previous years to determine expected natural deaths in any week of the year based on seasonal variations. They compare this number with actual deaths to determine ‘excess deaths’, then analyse whether Covid can be primarily blamed for those excess deaths. This means “the real challenge with the system” is in collecting information and “until we go beyond a paper-based system to an online system”, it will be slow. Another issue is a 2014 regulation that keeps cause of death information entered by a doctor confidential.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tanya Farber at Sunday Times
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page