We are dealing with an unseen enemy we have never encountered before. Thus, it is understandable how the deadly coronavirus (Covid-19) has gripped South Africa in fear.
After all, by the looks of things, we have yet to see the worst of this pathogen.
If you have doubts about its potential to destroy, look no further than countries like Italy, Spain, Great Britain and the United States (US).
These developed First World nations with healthcare systems thousand times more advanced than ours, have failed to deal with the respiratory-attacking virus — dismally.
To-date, Covid-19 has, according to the latest situation report issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), infected 6 663 304 patients and claimed 392 802 lives.
Understanding Covid-19 in a South African context
In South Africa, the Western and Eastern Cape accounts for 78.2% of the country’s infection tally and if Sunday’s readings are an indicator to go by, it is, unfortunately, a bit too early to say the worst that is yet to come.
Still, it is very much important to equip yourself with accurate information.
A lot of fake news is spreading and mainstream media outlets tend to use fearmongering tactics and hyperbole perpetuate panic and confusion.
It is good business for advertising.
Perhaps, the most important thing to note is that the total infection figure that’s often highlighted is misleading in assessing the risk of Covid-19 in real-time.
Thus, we will attempt to break this down for you and offer a greater understanding of Covid-19 in South Africa. These are the three key metrics you need to keep your eye on.
Three important metrics to keep an eye on
South Africa’s Covid-19 recovery rate
The one key statistic that is hardly front-of-face in Covid-19 reporting is the recovery rate in South Africa.
This metric is crucial in understanding how likely South Africans are to recover from the virus.
There are many factors that contribute to why people recover from this respiratory-attacking virus.
Some health experts attribute it to age, while others claim that those with pre-existing illnesses are at greater risk than people with healthy immune systems.
We care about the recovery rate because it informs us about how worried we really ought to be about Covid-19.
Based on the latest figures, South Africa’s Covid-19 recovery rate is 50.45%.
How likely you are to die of Covid-19 in SA
Another important metric is the virus’ death rate in our country. This key statistic informs us of how deadly Covid-19 really is in our context.
To arrive at the Covid-19’s death rate in South Africa, we divided the total casualties as of Sunday 7 June 2020 by the total recorded infections.
This is the result: South Africa’s Covid-19 death rate currently stands at 2.07%
You need to keep your eye on active cases
This is probably the most important metric you ought to keep a keen eye on.
Active cases refer to the number of patients currently being treated for Covid-19. This metric does not include the total number of patients who died from the virus, it excludes recoveries and does not consider cases that are yet to be recorded.
To date, South Africa has a total of 22 904 active cases of Covid-19.
Please note: The daily statistics are reported from tests conducted in the past 24 hours. Thus far, South Africa has conducted 920 064 tests.
With the virus spreading vastly through person-to-person transmission, we are playing a game of catch-up we will never win.
That’s why it is virtually impossible to offer ‘real-time’ Covid-19 metrics.
However, the active cases statistic still truimphs the others as the most important to take note of.