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Zikalala urges people to balance scientific medical treatment and alternative therapy

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KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala is calling on society to balance scientific medical treatment with alternative therapy in trying to treat COVID-19. Zikalala and Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu were addressing media in Durban on the COVID-19 pandemic which has reached its highest peak in the province.

The province is also now ranked fourth in the country in terms of COVID-19 cases after Gauteng, Western Cape and Eastern Cape.

The KZN government says they have enough beds to accommodate people who need to be quarantined at government facilities.

The province says it has over 16 400 beds which are available to accommodate COVID-19 patients.

Although the province has the fourth highest number of cases in the country, it’s now recording over 3 000 infections daily.

In just one week, more than 20 000 people tested positive for the coronavirus and there have been over 600 deaths.

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‘People dying at home’

The surge continues with Ethekwini and UMgungundlovu District recording above half of the daily cases. Health MEC Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu says they have also noted an increase in the number of people suspected to have the virus who are dying at home in the province.

“We call upon clinicians to test patients or refer them to health facilities if they present flu-like symptoms so that people do not die at home before the results are out. In the past week, we realised that some people die without knowing that they had COVID-19 because they were not tested. So, we encourage people to go to public hospitals.”

In the video below, Sihle Zikalala gives the weekly update on COVID-19 stats in KZN: 

Patients delayed hospital visit

Zikalala has raised concerns about people who arrive very late to hospitals and cannot be treated for the virus.

He says if people suspect that they might be COVID-19 positive, they should seek medical help.

“We are concerned about the late presentation of COVID-19 patients to our healthcare facilities. When we engage with doctors and nurses, we get given anecdotal evidence that seems to suggest that our people are relying a little too much on alternative treatments and only coming to our facilities when it is too late. I want to emphasise that we are not against alternative and traditional medicine at all. Rather, we are encouraging our people to use an integrated approach to fighting COVID-19.”

‘Adhere to the protocols’

Zikalala has urged community leaders to ensure that people adhere to the protocols that regulate the number of persons attending funerals and ceremonies.

He has raised concerns that some not adhering to the 50 people limit.

“As we exercise measures to weather the storm, we ask that our structures on the ground. From traditional leaders, councillors, ward committees, church leaders, izinduna, should help us to implement tighter measures for funerals and ceremonies. We wish to make a call to all local structures. Let us join hands when we say it’s in our hands, we mean let us work together to ensure that the protocols that have been put in place are followed strictly.”

In the video below, Sihle Zikalala and Nomagugu Simelane-Zulu brief the media on the weekly COVID-19 stats in KZN. 

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