Category: Hospitals

Categories : Hospitals Obstetrics & GynaecologyTags :

Nearly Half of Female Surgeons Experience Pregnancy Complications

On By ModernMedia
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
Long hours and delaying pregnancy to after 35 increase complication risk for female surgeons’ pregnancies. Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

A survey of female surgeons found that 48 percent had experienced major pregnancy complications, with even higher risks for those with more operation hours per week in the last trimester of pregnancy.

Women are entering the surgical field in increasing numbers but they continue to face well-known challenges related to childbearing. Surveys have documented pregnancy-related stigma, unmodified work schedules, brief maternity leave options, and little support for childcare and lactation needs after delivery. Due to a lack of childcare options in developed countries, many female trainees delay pregnancy until after 35, already a risk factor for pregnancy complications, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and elsewhere surveyed 1175 surgeons and surgical trainees from across the US to study their or their partner’s pregnancy experiences. They found that 48 percent of surveyed female surgeons experienced major pregnancy complications, with those who operated 12-or-more hours per week during the last trimester of pregnancy at a higher risk compared to those who did not. Their findings are published in JAMA Surgery.

“The way female surgeons are having children today makes them inherently a high-risk pregnancy group,” said corresponding author Erika Rangel, MD, MS, of the Division of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery. “In addition to long working hours, giving birth after age 35 and multiple gestation which is associated with increased use of assisted reproductive technologies – is a risk factor for having major pregnancy complications, including preterm birth and conditions related to placental dysfunction.”

The researchers found that over half (57 percent) of female surgeons worked more than 60 hours per week during pregnancy. Over a third (37 percent) took more than six overnight calls. Of the 42 percent of women who experienced a miscarriage (a rate twice that of the general population) three-quarters took no leave afterwards.

“As a woman reaches her third trimester, she should not be in the operating room for more than 12 hours a week,” Dr Rangel said. “That workload should be offset by colleagues in a fair way so that it does not add to the already-existing stigma that people face in asking for help, which is unfortunately not a part of our surgical culture.”

Male and female surgeons were asked to respond to the survey, which had been developed with obstetricians and gynaecologists. Nonchildbearing surgeons answered questions regarding their partners’ pregnancies. The investigators found that, compared to female nonsurgeons, female surgeons were 1.7 times more likely to experience major pregnancy complications, along with greater risk of musculoskeletal disorders, non-elective caesarean delivery, and postpartum depression, which was reported by 11 percent of female surgeons.

“The data we have accumulated is useful because it helps institutions understand the need to invest in a top-down campaign to support pregnant surgeons and change the culture surrounding childbearing,” Dr Rangel said. “We need to start with policy changes at the level of residency programs, to make it easier and more acceptable for women to have children when it’s healthier, while also changing policies within surgical departments. It is a brief period of time that a woman is pregnant, but supporting them is an investment in a surgeon who will continue to practice for another 25 or 30 years.”

Source: Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Journal information: Rangel EL et al. “Incidence of Infertility and Pregnancy Complications in US Female Surgeons” JAMA Surgery DOI: 10.1001/jamasurg.2021.3301

Categories : COVID HospitalsTags :

Minimal COVID Breakthrough in Vaccinated Healthcare Workers

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Sammy Williams on Unsplash
Photo by Sammy Williams on Unsplash

Results from a study of cases at Israel’s largest medical centre have shown that breakthrough COVID infection appears to be rare in vaccinated healthcare workers, though they still pose a further infection hazard. Breakthrough infections were correlated with neutralising antibody titres in the early days of infection, and were mild or asymptomatic.

The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Testing for symptomatic COVID as well as those who had been exposed to an infected person, out of 1497 healthcare workers, the researchers found 39 testing positive in PCR tests. The researchers also measured neutralising antibody titres of uninfected controls. Breakthrough infections were defined as testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 11 days after the second immunisation dose.

Of the 39 cases, 27 occurred in workers tested solely because of exposure to an infected person, 26 (67% of all cases) had mild symptoms at some stage, and none needed hospitalisation. The remaining 13 workers (33%) were asymptomatic. The researchers found that 85% of the 33 infections tested for variants of concern were caused by the Alpha variant.

Symptoms reported included upper respiratory congestion (36% of all cases), myalgia (28%) and loss of smell or taste (28%); fever or rigors were reported in 21%. On follow-up questioning, 31% reported having residual symptoms 14 days after diagnosis. Six weeks after their diagnosis, 19% reported having ‘long COVID’ symptoms. Nine workers (23%) took a leave of absence from work beyond the 10 days of required quarantine.

They discovered that neutralising antibody titres were lower than uninfected controls during the “peri-infection period”.

“Most important, we found that low titres of neutralising antibody and S-specific IgG antibody may serve as markers of breakthrough infection,” they said.

Most of the cases however had N gene Ct values, suggesting they had been infectious at some point, which likely would have gone unnoticed save for exposure screening, which means the vaccine protected them against symptomatic disease, but not infection.

“However, no secondary infections were traced back to any of the breakthrough cases, which supports the inference that these workers were less contagious than unvaccinated persons,” the researchers noted.

The study was limited, the researchers acknowledged, due to a small number of cases, the possibility of asymptomatic cases being missed, and the lack of generalisability from a younger, healthy population to the general populace.

The researchers concluded that in their study, they “found that although the BNT162b2 vaccine is extremely effective, rare breakthrough infections carry an infectious potential and create a special challenge, since such infections are often asymptomatic and may pose a risk to vulnerable populations.”

Journal information: Bergwerk M., et al. Covid-19 breakthrough infections in vaccinated health care workers, New England Journal of Medicine, 2021; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2109072.

Categories : Cardiovascular Disease HospitalsTags :

Heart Failure Diagnoses Being Missed in Primary Care Settings

On By ModernMedia
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

A considerable number of heart failure diagnoses may be missed in primary care settings, a new Stanford University study suggests, with gender, racial and income disparities.

Black adults, women and individuals with lower net worth are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with heart failure in an acute care setting such as the emergency room or during a hospitalisation, according to a new study. This is true even if they reported symptoms of heart failure in a routine, outpatient health care appointment within the previous six months. The study was published in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

“This national study raises concerns that many heart failure diagnoses may be missed in a primary care setting,” said Rebecca Tisdale, MD, MPA, co-first author and health services research and development fellow at the US Department of Veterans Affairs and Stanford University. “Our results suggest acute care diagnosis rates for heart failure may be reduced if signs and symptoms of heart failure are more closely assessed in a primary care setting, particularly among women and Black adults.”

According to the American Heart Association 2021 Statistical Update, an estimated 6 million Americans ages 20 and older have been diagnosed with heart failure, with mortality rates of over 20% within the first year after diagnosis. Previous studies have found that heart failure is frequently first diagnosed in an acute care setting.

“Patients diagnosed with heart failure in the emergency room or during inpatient hospitalisation often have more advanced heart failure and complications with worse prognoses than individuals diagnosed with heart failure in a primary care setting,” said Alexander Sandhu, MD, MS, lead author of the study, an instructor of medicine in advanced heart failure in the division of cardiovascular medicine and the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute at Stanford University. “Since earlier recognition and treatment may prevent some of the serious complications and costs of heart failure, our analysis focused on evaluating whether heart failure is identified before the patient is in the emergency room or the hospital.”

Drawing on a national database of health care claims from 2003-2019, the investigators evaluated if patients with new incidence of heart failure were diagnosed in an outpatient (primary care) or acute care (emergency room or urgent care) setting. The analysis included nearly one million adults ages 18 or older with a first-time heart failure diagnosis.

A large proportion of new heart failure diagnoses were found to have occurred in the emergency room or during hospitalisation, particularly among women and Black adults, yet many had potential heart failure symptoms in the months before their acute care visits. Delving further, the investigators found that:

  • Among patients with newly diagnosed heart failure, 38% were diagnosed in acute care settings.
  • Of patients diagnosed in the acute care setting, 46% had potential heart failure symptoms during primary care clinic visits in the previous six months, including oedema (15%), cough (12%), shortness of breath (11%), and chest pain (11%).
  • Heart failure diagnosis in an acute care setting was higher for women than men, and also higher for Black adults than white adults.
  • People with a net worth of under $25 000 had 39% higher odds of receiving heart failure diagnoses in an acute care setting compared to people with a net worth of over $500 000.

Disparities in heart failure diagnosis within clinical practices persisted nationally across race, gender and economic status, suggesting potential differences in either quality of care or local resource availability. In addition, acute care heart failure diagnoses increased by 3.2% annually during the 16-year study period.

Timely heart failure diagnosis can lead to earlier care with the slowing of heart failure progression and improved patient outcomes. However, previous research has shown that both women and Black adults are less likely to be referred to a cardiologist or to promptly receive advanced heart failure treatment.

“Further research is needed to better understand the factors influencing these disparities,” Dr Sandhu concluded. “It is important to note that we only analysed patients with health insurance, raising concerns that inequities may be even larger among people who are uninsured, marginally insured or those who have less access to care.”

Source: American Heart Association

Journal information: Sandhu, A.T., et al. (2021) Disparity in the Setting of Incident Heart Failure Diagnosis. Circulation: Heart Failure. doi.org/10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.121.008538.

Categories : HospitalsTags :

Tshwane Hospital, Left Unscathed by Unrest, Continues the COVID Fight

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Hush Naidoo on Unsplash

Amidst the unrest which badly disrupted the provision of healthcare in many areas, Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital was one of the lucky Gauteng metros left unscathed.

The hospital’s Acting CEO Dr Keneilwe Letebele said that protests did not extend as far as Ga-Rankuwa, north of Pretoria, which left the healthcare facility untouched by the violence and looting.

“Up until now, our hospital has not been adversely affected, possibly because there were not much protest marches happening in our vicinity,” said Dr Letebele.

Being out of the thick of the protests let the hospital remain focussed on dealing with COVID cases. Lessons they had learnt from the first two waves had helped them mitigate the high number of fatalities in the third waves.

“The situation is quite challenging but we have learnt some valuable lessons from the first and second wave experiences regardless of some differences.

“These lessons have helped us to adapt to the situation. What is important is that when the first wave engulfed us, it was a first experience for everyone but now we know what to expect and how to address some challenges,” she said.

Dr Letebele noted that they have 60 additional beds at their newly-built Alternative Building Technology (ABT) unit, which adds to the existing 280 beds dedicated to COVID.

However, the high number of healthcare workers testing positive for COVID had left them short of staff.

“Capacity is reduced due to staff being COVID positive. However, the department has increased the number of staff to manage the surge (in cases),” she said.

Meanwhile, Vuyo Mhaga, the spokesperson for Gauteng Premier David Makhura, said scientists have warned that although COVID numbers were beginning to fall in the province, it was not enough – and it might even reverse given current events.

“The province is concerned that there might be a change in the downward trajectory of new infections due to recent protest action.

“Daily new infections remain very high. Some of those infected do require hospital care. These protests might cause the province to take longer to flatten the curve,” said Mhaga.

Meanwhile, health bodies including the South African African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) have issued a joint statement warning against using looted medications.

“We would like to urge the public not to utilise any medicines that are not accessed through authorised health care institutions. You may report such illegal activity to SAHPRA or to law enforcement agencies,” the medical bodies said.

They also said that looting and violence from the unrest only worsened the COVID pandemic and set back the provision of equitable healthcare.

“We appeal to citizens looting and destroying the healthcare infrastructure and disrupting the provision of health care to consider the long-term consequences of their actions on the health of communities.

“Without health care services, the requisite medicines and vaccines, we will have unnecessary deaths and cause further pandemonium, including severe damage to the economy,” the bodies said.

Source: IOL

Categories : HospitalsTags :

Manufacturer Shuts Down its Robot Mid-surgery

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash
Photo by Piron Guillaume on Unsplash

One of a series of lawsuits against the company that makes the da Vinci surgical robot alleges that the company shut down its robot mid-surgery, forcing the surgeons to switch to an open surgery.

Several hospitals have launched a legal battle against the company Intuitive Surgical, the manufacturer of the da Vinci surgical robot. They allege that the company’s monopoly position forces hospitals to buy its maintenance services and spare parts at inflated prices even though cheaper alternatives are available.

One hospital alleges that, after it said that it was considering a service contract with a third party, Intuitive Surgical remotely shut down its surgical robot “in the middle of a procedure”, forcing the surgeon “to convert the procedure to open surgery with the patient on the operating table”.

Separately, malfunctions of the instrument arms have been reported, requiring additional, sometimes larger, incisions in patients in order to complete the surgical procedure manually. Use of the robotic technology also requires longer operating and anesthesia times as well as several complications occurring from the use of the da Vinci Surgical System itself.

Intuitive Surgical sells its da Vinci surgical robot to hospitals for anywhere from $500,000 to $2.5 million each. However, a majority of Intuitive Surgical’s $4 billion of annual revenue comes from the parts and services that are required to keep the robots running. Its executives are among the most highly paid in the healthcare industry.
Franciscan Health, Valley Medical Center and Kaleida Health filed class-action lawsuits. These hospitals that claim Intuitive Surgical has a monopoly on minimally invasive surgical robots, giving the company a “near-stranglehold” on the parts and services market for the robots.

One lawsuit alleges hospitals cannot have their da Vinci robots serviced by third parties because Intuitive Surgical forces hospitals to sign “multi-year, exclusive servicing agreements” at rates that are much higher than other vendors’. Hospitals also allege they are coerced into buying new, expensive instruments and attachments for their robots (called EndoWrists) after 10 uses, even if the parts are in good working condition. A limited extension of these uses has been launched by the company. The lawsuit alleges that Intuitive Surgical engineers have threatened hospitals with turning the machines into “paperweights” should hospitals seek outside vendors for parts or repairs.

While Intuitive Surgical has faced antitrust lawsuits from third-party repair and service companies since 2019, these hospital class-action lawsuits are new.

In an email, an Intuitive Surgical spokesperson told MedPage Today that the medical robotics company “does not have the ability to remotely shut down a da Vinci system during a surgical procedure underway at hospital.”

“There is risk associated with deviating from the validated processes cleared by regulatory authorities,” the spokesperson stated. “Continued use beyond an instrument’s determined useful life may reduce safety, precision, and dexterity. Further, third parties may use incompatible or unvalidated parts or processes in servicing or repairing the systems, which could cause damage and put patient safety at risk.”

Source: Axios

Categories : COVID HospitalsTags :

Heparin Benefit Seen in Moderately Ill COVID Patients

On By ModernMedia
Photo by Marcelo Leal on Unsplash
Photo by Marcelo Leal on Unsplash

New trial results show that early administration of the blood thinner heparin to moderately ill hospitalised COVID patients with could halt the thrombo-inflammation process, reducing the risk of severe disease and death.

COVID is characterised by inflammation and abnormal clotting in the blood vessels, especially the lungs, and is believed to contribute to progression to severe disease and death. 

The study is available as a preprint on MedRxiv and was led by investigators at St. Michael’s Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto, and the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine.

Heparin, an anticoagulant, is indicated for both the prevention and treatment of thrombotic events such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism as well as atrial fibrillation. Heparin is also used to prevent excess coagulation during procedures such as cardiac surgery, extracorporeal circulation or dialysis. Heparin also has a wide range of off-label uses in hospitals. “This study was designed to detect a difference in the primary outcome that included ICU transfer, mechanical ventilation or death,” said study co-principal investigator  Mary Cushman, MD, MSc, professor of medicine at the UVM Larner College of Medicine.
The open-label randomised international multi-centre clinical RAPID Trial (also known as the RAPID COVID COAG – RAPID Trial) examined the benefits of administering a therapeutic full dose of heparin versus a prophylactic low dose to hospitalised patients with moderate COVID.

The primary outcome was a composite of ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, or death up to 28 days. Safety outcomes included major bleeding. Primary outcome occurred in 16.2% of patients with therapeutic full dose heparin, and 21.9% with low dose heparin (odds ratio [OR], 0.69). Four patients (1.8%) with therapeutic heparin died vs 7.6% with prophylactic heparin (OR, 0.22).

“While we found that therapeutic heparin didn’t statistically significantly lower incidence of the primary composite of death, mechanical ventilation or ICU admission compared with low dose heparin, the odds of all-cause death were significantly reduced by 78 percent with therapeutic heparin,” said first author and co-principal investigator Michelle Sholzberg, MDCM, MSc, Head of Division of Hematology-Oncology, medical director of the Coagulation Laboratory at St. Michael’s Hospital of Unity Health Toronto, and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

Co-principal investigator Peter Jüni, MD, director of the Applied Health Research Centre (AHRC) at St. Michael’s, and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, said that the researchers also presented a meta-analysis of randomised evidence (including data from a large multiplatform trial of ATTACC, ACTIV-4a and REMAP-CAP), which clearly indicated that therapeutic heparin is beneficial in moderately ill hospitalised COVID patients. He added that an additional meta-analysis presented in the preprint showed that therapeutic heparin is beneficial in moderately ill hospitalised patients but not in severely ill ICU patients.

Unusually, the RAPID Trial was funded through grassroots efforts from various institutions, grants and even a GoFundMe campaign.

“We called this trial ‘The Little Engine that Could,’ because of the sheer will of investigators around the world to conduct it,” said Cushman.

Sholzberg said, “We believe that the findings of our trial and the multiplatform trial taken together should result in a change in clinical practice for moderately ill ward patients with COVID.”

Source: University of Vermont

Journal information: Michelle Sholzberg et al, Heparin for Moderately Ill Patients with Covid-19, MedRxiv (2021). DOI: 10.1101/2021.07.08.21259351

Categories : Hospitals Paediatrics Respiratory DiseasesTags :

80% of Childhood Asthma Hospital Presentations are Preventable

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Image by Bob Williams from Pixabay
Image by Bob Williams from Pixabay

Based on a comprehensive Australian survey, approximately 80 percent of asthma-related hospital presentations in school-aged children are potentially avoidable through a standardised comprehensive care pathway for children with asthma.

These preventative measures include using evidence-based clinical guidelines, ensuring that there is an asthma action plan in place; regular follow-up with GP; provision of asthma education to parents/carers; and establishing a community-based approach for continuity of care.

Senior author Dr Nusrat Homaira, respiratory epidemiologist at UNSW Sydney said, “During our research, we surveyed 236 nurses and 266 doctors across 37 hospitals in all 15 local health districts (LHDs) across New South Wales (NSW) to identify the existing care pathway following discharge from hospital for children with asthma.”

This study by researchers at UNSW Sydney identified major variations in the existing asthma care pathway, including:

Use of asthma clinical guidelines and Asthma Action Plan: Although clinical guidelines and Asthma Action Plans (AAPs) were used across all hospitals, on average, there were four to six different types of documents used in each (LHD), between hospitals in the same LHD and within departments in the same hospital. Such variations can be confusing for clinicians, as noted by a survey participant: “Conflicting advice given to asthma patients between general practitioners, emergency departments and sometimes paediatricians; patients are then confused about what to do in exacerbation of symptoms.”

GP follow-up: In most LHDs (75 percent) parents/carers were advised to have their child followed up with their GP within two to three days after hospital discharge, but in some areas, follow-up appointments could be recommended for over six days post-hospitalisation. Parents/carers were reportedly responsible for organising follow-up with their GP with no system to ensure they in fact attended.

Asthma education for parents/carers of asthmatic children: Formal asthma education (27 percent of respondents) were seldom provided to parents/carers during hospital stays; limited to asthma device techniques and rarely involved key topics such as basic knowledge of asthma, asthma control and the importance of regular medical review.

Communication with schools/childcare services: When children with asthma were discharged from hospitals, only four percent of the surveyed staff reported that schools or childcare services were notified of the child’s recent hospital presentation.

Community services integration: The majority of participants (55 percent) were unaware of any community services for children with asthma in their local areas.

The survey identified marked variations in asthma care and management for children within different health districts, different hospitals in the same district and different departments within the same hospital in. The findings highlight opportunities to improve the health outcomes in children with asthma and reduce unnecessary burden on health systems from preventable asthma hospital presentations.

Source: EurekAlert!

Journal information: Chan, M., et al. (2021) Assessment of Variation in Care Following Hospital Discharge for Children with Acute Asthma. Journal of Asthma and Allergy. doi.org/10.2147/JAA.S311721.

Categories : HospitalsTags :

Attacks on Crisis-hit Hospitals Averted

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Photo by Pawel Janiak on Unsplash

As hospitals in violence-hit areas struggle with supplies and staffing, Police Minister Cele revealed that attacks on hospitals had been averted.

Speaking to eNCA, Minister Cele revealed that crime prevention intelligence had prevented attacks on healthcare infrastructure. “In KZN, yesterday… they were planning to burn the hospitals… literally planning to burn the hospitals with patients inside. So, that was averted,” he said.

Minister Cele made the comments while he was visiting an area hit by violence in Mamelodi, Tshwane.

During a briefing by the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster, State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo said that state security intelligence had prevented further destruction of buildings and infrastructure. This information was shared with the police. “We tried our best wherever we could and we affected a lot more than what you see on national television,” she said.

Netcare has had to scramble to secure medical supplies for its hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal. Netcare CEO Dr Richard Friedland said that they had flown in trauma nurses and medical supplies following their supplier’s inability to provide them as a result of the unrest. Dr Friedland said Netcare hospitals remained open despite staffing challenges.

“Like many other businesses, we have experienced some challenges due to staff shortages as a result of staff not being able to reach their place of work, however Netcare’s hospitals remain open throughout the country. We have treated a number of people for protest-related injuries, placing further pressure on an already constrained healthcare system, including emergency medical services,” he said.

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (Denosa) has also reported that its members are facing challenges getting to and from work because of the violence.

Categories : HospitalsTags :

Gauteng’s Ambulance Fleet: Coping with COVID, Riots and Furniture

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Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash

Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi acknowledged that many ambulance pickups were being delayed in the province, but placed the blame for this on the referral system.

Starting in 2019, the Gauteng government has taken over most municipal emergency services. However, due to the pressure placed by COVID, City of Tshwane and City of Ekurhuleni municipalities will receive temporary licences to continue operating ambulance services. “So, combined they will be able to respond to our communities on time,” said MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi.

The province’s ambulances and crews are under severe strain as they cope with a lack of resources, the COVID pandemic, and most recently, violent protests.

The Gauteng Emergency Services has been augmenting its fleet with new vehicles, including a pair of Mfezi armoured ambulances for use in dangerous situations, such as riots, where normal soft-skinned ambulances cannot venture.

For example, these armoured vehicles were deployed during New Year’s Eve at Hillbrow, during which time old furniture is often thrown onto the street as a way to ‘start afresh’ for the New Year. This tradition started in the 1990s. Though there may not be as many defenestrated refrigerators in recent years, numerous injuries from the tradition have required the police to clamp down.

The City of Tshwane, which continues to operate under its own ambulance licence, also acquired an armoured ambulance in 2019.

Jack Bloom of the DA said that the Gauteng Health Department has botched its takeover of all ambulance services in the province. Of the original 90 ambulances in Johannesburg before the transition were available, only 40 were now available, according to Bloom. 

Meanwhile, in KwaZulu-Natal, more than 30 private ambulance operators have taken their vehicles off the roads to protect them from the ongoing violence.

Categories : COVID HospitalsTags :

As Gauteng Weathers Third Wave, Western Cape Readies its Defences

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Image by Quicknews

While COVID infection rates in Gauteng remain high, Western Cape is now firmly in a third wave, with an average of 1969 new cases a day. The healthcare system there has been monitoring the situation and preparing for the expected surge in cases.

“We are in a steep third wave, driven by the Delta variant and urge everyone to adhere strictly to protective behaviours, as a key drive to contain it. We anticipate that the third wave could be as high as the second wave. We await revised modelling from the SACMC to re-calibrate our response,” said head of health Dr Keith Cloete. Data on cases, healthcare capacity and details of the Western Cape’s responses were made available on the SA Coronavirus Portal.

In the Western Cape, the reproductive number has been over one for the past two months and is currently sitting at approximately 1.2, meaning an acceleration of new cases. The test positivity rate is at about 32%.

The public and private sector are using around two-thirds of the oxygen production capacity of Afrox’s plant. The level 4 restrictions with their accompanying alcohol ban saw a significant drop in week-on-week trauma presentations (~25%) and weekend trauma burden (~33% drop). This comes even with the context typical end of month increase as well as expected remaining alcohol stock, demonstrating the ban’s effectiveness.

The modelling referred to by Dr Cloete currently shows a high of ~500 daily admissions by 17 July, however an updated model is awaited. Public sector COVID bed capacity is being increased by converting beds and opening field hospitals, with a planned capacity of 2300 beds.

About 48.5% and 10.4% of the Western Cape population aged 60+ and 50-59 respectively have been vaccinated so far. Meanwhile, in a media briefing on Friday, Acting Health Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane announced that COVID vaccine registration for South Africans between the ages of 35-49 will open on July 15, with vaccinations for this age group planned to commence on August 1.