Rising death toll causes Covid fright

CAPE TOWN: South Africa has recorded a jump of nearly 60% in natural deaths in recent weeks, suggesting a much higher toll of coronavirus-related fatalities than officially reported.

“In the past weeks, the numbers have shown a relentless increase,” the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) said in a report released yesterday.

“By the second week of July, there were 59% more deaths from natural causes than would have been expected based on historical data.”

The report, funded by the government but published by an independent unit, came as the health ministry announced a record increase of 572 coronavirus deaths over the previous 24 hours.

The author of the report, Professor Debbie Bradshaw, said it had revealed a worrying inconsistency. “The weekly death reports have revealed a huge discrepancy between the country’s confirmed Covid-19 deaths and number of excess natural deaths,” she commented.

South Africa is the worst-affected country in Africa and among the top five in the world in terms of confirmed cases, with 394,948 infections reported to date, including 5,940 deaths.

The mortality rate has remained low, however, at around 1.5%, according to the health ministry’s latest figures.

The SAMRC is charged with conducting research on disease trends and identifying the main causes of deaths in the country.

“The SAMRC has been tracking mortality for decades in South Africa and has now identified excess deaths associated with the Covid-19 epidemic,” said the council’s CEO, Professor Glenda Gray.

“These may be attributed to both Covid-19 deaths as well non-Covid-19 due to other diseases such as TB, HIV and non-communicable diseases, as health services are re-orientated to support this health crisis.”