Covid19 Death Toll in SA Could Be Higher Than Revealed, Says SAMRC

Thursday, March 04, 2021 at 3:10 PM by Reeshni Chetty

- The Covid-19 death toll in South Africa could possibly be higher than what was revealed

- The 'actual' death toll was revealed in a report by the South African Medical Research Council

- The report says the death toll could be anywhere between 114 000 and 128 000 deaths as of early February

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A report by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) revealed that the 'actual' Covid-19 death toll could be as high as 128 000. The National Health Department reported an estimated 135 000 excess deaths.

As of early February, the department confirmed 46 473 Covid-19 related deaths. Reports say a lower estimate of around 114 000 deaths was also provided. This would put South Africa as one of the worst-hit countries in the world.

Excess deaths are described as being the difference between the number of deaths and the expected number of deaths within the same time period. This simply means that if there were 300 deaths expected and 400 recorded, there would be 100 excess deaths.

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South African Covid death toll may be higher than revealed — The South African Covid-19 death toll may be higher than revealed, according to a recent report. Image: MICHELE SPATARI/AFP
Source: Getty Images

News24 reported that as of early March the official number of reported deaths in the country was over 50 000. The report by SAMRC explained that to aid in understanding the emerging Covid-19 mortality is to compare the estimated weekly excess deaths with the number of Covid-19 deaths reported by the Health Minister.

In other Covid-19 news, Briefly.co.za reported that scientists have revealed that those infected by the 501Y.V2 Covid-19 variant are not only protected against this strain but also against earlier mutations.

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Blade Nzimande and Health Minister Zweli Mkhize were joined by experts while giving an update on local research conducted on the 501Y.V2 variant on Wednesday.

Nzimande says the new research shows that the variant, first identified in South Africa, generates an immune response that allows it to neutralise itself and against prior mutations.