Northern Cape Premier rejects claims of inaccurate COVID-19 stats

Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul has dismissed assertions that the province’s COVID-19 statistics are not a true reflection of the amount of infections the province has.  The Northern Cape currently has the lowest number of positive cases, currently standing at 37. There have been no COVID-19 related deaths reported.

Residents are concerned that the provincial Health department is focusing more on screening instead of testing, which could be disastrous as those who have the virus but are asymptomatic, will not easily be detected during the screening process. Opposition parties in the province also have misgivings about the low number of tests that have been conducted.

But Saul says there is nothing to worry about. He says the province has screened over 700 000 people with about 2 000 people tested.

“If our figures for people who have tested positive was a distortion, then there would be a large number of people who are dead. The death toll remains very stable in South Africa, which is fair in relation to the number of people that have tested positive. So there is no misreading, there is no miscalculation that is taking place,” says Saul.

He was speaking at the welcoming of 11 specialist Cuban doctors, who have been deployed to the province.

In the video below,  a report on the deployment of Cuban specialist in Kimberly:

The Premier says the 11 specialists will strengthen the province’s ability to deal with any surge in COVID-19 infections.

“Over the years our healthcare, particularly public healthcare in the province has been driven on the backbone of Cuban doctors. It’s not our first experience having them here and they have done excellent work over the past few years. So the highly specialised team will be expected to stay here in Kimberley to strengthen the capacity of our tertiary hospital and others will be deployed to the different districts,” says Saul.

The doctors include family physicians, epidemiologists and biologists. They are expected to be taken through a week-long orientation before they are deployed throughout the Northern Cape.

Infographic of SA COVID-19 stats: