With 11 people having died in relation to the COVID19 virus in the space of two days, and an overall death toll of 185 people thus far, Principal Medical officer Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards, said the trend of the increasing deaths is “very disturbing and very concerning.
Speaking at the Health Ministry’s virtual press conference on Wednesday, she said “We are not just seeing deaths amongst the elderly population and persons with pre-existing conditions, but we are seeing deaths even among the 30s.
“This emphasises the need for the members of the population to really start adhering to the public health precautions.”
She said on Monday, hospital occupancy was at 48 per cent, which jumped to 50 per cent on Tuesday and is now at 58 per cent.
Overnight, ward occupancy increased from 50 per cent to 60 per cent.
The High Dependency Unit (HDU) occupancy for covid19 patients jumped from 40 per cent to 70 per cent, while the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) occupancy has decreased, moving from 50 per cent to 40 per cent – not because patients have been discharged, but because they have died.
“Persons with mild illness are being hospitalised for up to five days…and we are seeing that also persons presenting mild illness are becoming even more ill and are requiring ICU and HDU care.”
She said there are currently 542 covid19 hospital beds available.
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