South Africa Covid Hospitalizations at 9,324 With 6.6% in ICU

(Bloomberg) -- South African hospitals have 9,324 Covid-19 patients, of which 6.6% are in intensive-care units, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said.

Of the 613 people in ICU, 239 are on ventilators, the institute said in a report on Wednesday. The economic hub of Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg and Pretoria, accounts for 3,564 of admissions and the coastal KwaZulu-Natal province 1,731. The numbers compare with the 9,023 who were in the hospital a day earlier, with 6.8% of those in ICU.

The epicenter of South Africa’s omicron-fueled fourth wave of infections has shifted from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal, a popular destination for domestic tourists during the current summer holiday period, according to separate NCID reports published this week.

The Nov. 25 announcement of omicron’s discovery sparked concerns of a surge in severe cases. But a study released Wednesday by the NICD shows South Africans contracting Covid-19 in the fourth wave of infections are 80% less likely to be hospitalized if they catch the omicron variant, compared with other strains. 

Hospitalizations peaked at nearly 20,000 in January and July, the crest of the country’s second and third waves, respectively.

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