Episode Details

Full summary in the first few minutes of this video, its good news examination of the 166 patients admitted since the Omicron variant arrived snapshot of the clinical profile of 42 patients currently in the COVID wards at SB The majority of hospital admissions are for diagnoses unrelated to COVID-19. The SARS-CoV-2 positivity is an incidental finding in these patients and is largely driven by hospital policy requiring testing of all patients requiring admission to the hospital. 76% of patients are incidental COVID admissions. This very unusual picture is also occurring at other hospitals in Gauteng. The high proportion of COVID incidental admissions may reflect higher rates of community transmission compared to previous waves (variants) that is not translating into higher admission rates for a primary COVID-19 diagnosis. Tshwane District Omicron Variant Patient Profile - Early Features 4th December https://www.samrc.ac.za/news/tshwane-district-omicron-variant-patient-profile-early-features There has been a significant rise in new SARS-CoV-2 infections in the Gauteng Province in the last four weeks which has been attributed to Omicron variant announced on 24 November 2021 The first cases of Omicron were detected in the Tshwane District The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pretoria with surrounding towns and localities population of 2,708,702 people This is where the 4th wave started Tshwane has been the global epicentre of the Omicron Outbreak cases rising exponentially over several weeks 41,921 cases by 3 December 29 November to 3 December 2021 Cases + 9,929 reported in Tshwane Steve Biko/Tshwane District Hospital Complex in Pretoria in the heart of the Tshwane District statistics presented by the Gauteng Department of Health on 2 December 2021 for the province as a whole, and with admissions across all public and private hospitals in Tshwane we have seen a sharp rise in admissions Between 14th and 29th November 2021 166 new admissions Patient information presented here only represents the first two weeks of the Omicron wave in Tshwane The clinical profile of admitted patients could change significantly over the next two weeks, by which time we can draw conclusions about the severity of disease with greater precision. The main observation that we have made over the last two weeks is that the majority of patients in the COVID wards have not been oxygen dependent. SARS-CoV-2 has been an incidental finding in patients that were admitted to the hospital for another medical, surgical or obstetric reason. A snapshot of 42 patients in the ward on 2 December 29 (70%) are not oxygen dependent These patients are saturating well on room air, and do not present with any respiratory symptoms. ‘incidental COVID admissions’ having had another medical or surgical reason for admission. Thirteen (13) patients are dependent on supplemental oxygen of which nine (21%) have a diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia All are being prescribed steroids as the mainstay of therapy. The remaining 4 patients are on oxygen for other medical reasons This is a picture that has not been seen in previous waves. Past 3 waves only been a sprinkling of patients on room air in the COVID ward The numbers of patients in high care on double oxygen, High Flow Nasal Oxygen or non-invasive ventilation (NIV) were noticeably higher in previous waves. This is anecdotal but confirmed by numerous clinicians who have previously worked in the COVID wards in the hospital complex. Of 38 adults in the COVID wards on 2 December 6 were vaccinated 24 were unvaccinated 8 had unknown vaccination status Of 9 patients with COVID pneumonia 8 are unvaccinated 1 is a

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