A nine-year-old boy died after being rushed to hospital on Saturday. Photo: Adobe Stock
Coronavirus clarity: Gauteng patient no longer in a ‘critical condition’
A patient who was declared “critical” on Wednesday is seemingly in better shape today – but was this another coronavirus communication clanger?
A nine-year-old boy died after being rushed to hospital on Saturday. Photo: Adobe Stock
A resident of Gauteng who tested positive for coronavirus earlier this week seemingly became the first person in the country who was diagnosed as ‘critical’ due to the disease. However, a fair amount of backtracking earlier today has brought relief to the province, and South Africa as a whole.
Gauteng patient ‘no longer critical’
Gauteng health department spokesperson Kwara Kekana stated on Wednesday that one patient amongst the 24 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 in South Africa so far was in a “critical condition”. She also stated further information would be issued later in the week, and sure enough, Friday brought an update.
“The department was worried about the patient because he was part of a high risk group in terms of age and in terms of the co-morbid disease he has, which is his renal disease. He is still doing well, he is not in a bad situation – We just wanted to correct that fact.”
Gauteng Health Department statement
Coronavirus clarifications
It differed wildly from what was communicated two days ago, and it isn’t the first time government sources have been unclear on a matter regarding coronavirus. On Thursday, the official number of cases was revised down, after an apparent victim in Free State was retested and had their positive test overturned.
On 12 March, the government said that a 32-year-old male came into contact with a Chinese businessman, and then tested positive. This was thought to be the first case of “local transmission” as all the other people who have tested positive for the coronavirus had been travelling abroad.
It’s believed that the patient in Gauteng, who was also receiving treatment for his renal disease, may also have been caught up in government miscommunication. Whether he was critical because of coronavirus or not was left unclear, but the recovery he has staged in the past 48 hours can be a source of hope for many of us.
#CoronavirusInSA A Gauteng man who was in a critical condition after he contracted #COVID19 in Germany, is expected to make a full recovery and is now awaiting his test results before he can be discharged from hospital.
— Mia Lindeque (@MiaLindeque) March 13, 2020
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