Image via: Adobe Stock
New Year’s Day: 478 babies born in Gauteng on 1 January
Nearly 500 babies were born in the Gauteng province on New Year’s Day. There was almost a clean split between boys and girls too.
Image via: Adobe Stock
While babies were born all over the country on New Year’s Day, almost 500 were born in Gauteng alone. On Saturday 2 January, the Gauteng Health Department listed how many babies had been born at each hospital or community centre. Here’s the latest news on 2021 babies.
NEW YEAR’S BABIES IN GAUTENG
According to the Gauteng Health Department, 478 babies were born on Friday 1 January 2021. Of the nearly 500 babies that were born, 245 of them were boys and 233 of them were girls. According to the department’s list, there were also four sets of twins born in the province on New Year’s Day.
A total of 71 babies were born at academic hospitals, 52 babies were born at tertiary hospitals, most of the babies — 242 to be exact — were born at regional and district hospitals and 113 were born at Community Healthcare Centres.
BREAKDOWN OF JANUARY 1ST BIRTHS IN THE PROVINCE
Academic Hospitals
Tertiary Hospitals
Regional and District Hospitals
Community Healthcare Centres
DROP IN TRAUMA CASES
It seems hospital staff and frontline workers were attending to New Year’s babies more than they were trauma patients. The Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg, Gauteng said it did not admit a single patient to its trauma unit on New Year’s Day which was a first.
Busi Ramafoko, a nurse at the hospital, urged South Africans to comply with the safety protocols under Level 3 lockdown.
“Above all, properly wear your mask. It will protect you. Because an injury is an accident, you will come to our unit. Before you are dispatched anywhere for further management, we have to check on your COVID status. And believe you me, people are testing positive.”
The Western Cape Health Department’s Marika Champion said most facilities said New Year’s eve was quieter than usual, allowing more attention to be given to COVID-19 patients.
“We are still collating numbers but reports indicate a significant drop in trauma cases. These include motor vehicle crashes and violent trauma cases which usually accompany public holidays. Trauma cases are usually very time consuming and labour intensive. This reduction helped us to cope with the significant load of COVID cases in our hospitals.”
