Stomach bug cape town

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Is a ‘stomach bug’ spreading in Cape Town? COCT respond to concerns

Have you been feeling a bit ‘iffy’? People in Cape Town are convinced that a nasty stomach bug is spreading quickly, with city officials now weighing in.

Stomach bug cape town

Photo: Unsplash

A nasty case of gastro has, apparently, been spreading across the City of Cape Town over the past few weeks. Scores of citizens say they’ve come down with a stomach bug that is particularly unrelenting…

Is there a stomach bug going around Cape Town?

The illness, which has also been reported by those on social media, has got people wondering if a second, more local ‘pandemic’ is taking hold of the Mother City. The concerns raised by those affected have since drawn an official response.

COCT ‘unfazed’ by gastro claims

Zahid Badroodien is the Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health in Cape Town. And, once upon a time, he worked as a medical doctor. The City put their best man forward to respond to claims about this stomach bug.

According to him, there’s no evidence that gastro cases are spreading faster than usual. In fact, there’s been a substantial decline in the number of ‘diarrheal samples’ detected by the city’s water testing facilities. Which is reassuring, if not gross…

Annually, between November and May, we usually record an increase in the number of diarrheal cases in the city. We’ve actually recorded a 25% drop in the overall caseload year-on-year in City health with the latest number being about 18,000 cases or diarrhea as compared to 2018/2019 which about 24,800 cases. Our water samples are tested very regularly.

Zahid Badroodien