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We can confirm there was a death'
Murray Williams
August 07 2009 at 11:18AM
A second death possibly related to the swine flu virus has been recorded in the Western Cape.
Johann Hack died on Tuesday morning at Vergelegen Medi-Clinic hospital in Somerset West.
Dr Stefan Smuts, of the Medi-Clinic group, told the Cape Argus on Thursday morning: "We would like to not divulge any confidential information, but we can confirm there was a death, which we think might be related to the swine flu.
"The patient collapsed at home, was resuscitated in the ambulance, and arrived at the hospital still being resuscitated.
"But after half an hour of resuscitation efforts, he was declared dead."
"So he had a very short exposure in hospital."
Smuts said the hospital group used private pathologists, but was obliged by the state health department to use accredited laboratories to confirm the presence of the swine flu virus, and had sent samples to the National Centre for Communicable Diseases.
"We're now waiting for that second test," Smuts said.
The provincial health department said it had not received any confirmation by Thursday morning.
In a change of strategy, the department said it would no longer be releasing daily totals of confirmed swine flu cases in the province.
This was because so many people were now being treated for the virus, without the requisite testing being done first.
And pathology laboratories were severely overloaded with tests to process.
Confirmed official numbers could thus be either entirely wrong, or misleading.
The Cape Argus confirmed today that a second school, Bloemhof Girls' High School in Stellenbosch, has been closed because of the virus.
However, because Bloemhof is a state school, it was to be ordered to re-open today as the decision to close had allegedly not been taken with the provincial department's permission.
Either way, as with St Cyprian's in Cape Town, classes were due to resume on Tuesday after the long weekend.
Numerous sporting fixtures have been cancelled at schools across the province.
Murray Williams
August 07 2009 at 11:18AM
A second death possibly related to the swine flu virus has been recorded in the Western Cape.
Johann Hack died on Tuesday morning at Vergelegen Medi-Clinic hospital in Somerset West.
Dr Stefan Smuts, of the Medi-Clinic group, told the Cape Argus on Thursday morning: "We would like to not divulge any confidential information, but we can confirm there was a death, which we think might be related to the swine flu.
"The patient collapsed at home, was resuscitated in the ambulance, and arrived at the hospital still being resuscitated.
"But after half an hour of resuscitation efforts, he was declared dead."
"So he had a very short exposure in hospital."
Smuts said the hospital group used private pathologists, but was obliged by the state health department to use accredited laboratories to confirm the presence of the swine flu virus, and had sent samples to the National Centre for Communicable Diseases.
"We're now waiting for that second test," Smuts said.
The provincial health department said it had not received any confirmation by Thursday morning.
In a change of strategy, the department said it would no longer be releasing daily totals of confirmed swine flu cases in the province.
This was because so many people were now being treated for the virus, without the requisite testing being done first.
And pathology laboratories were severely overloaded with tests to process.
Confirmed official numbers could thus be either entirely wrong, or misleading.
The Cape Argus confirmed today that a second school, Bloemhof Girls' High School in Stellenbosch, has been closed because of the virus.
However, because Bloemhof is a state school, it was to be ordered to re-open today as the decision to close had allegedly not been taken with the provincial department's permission.
Either way, as with St Cyprian's in Cape Town, classes were due to resume on Tuesday after the long weekend.
Numerous sporting fixtures have been cancelled at schools across the province.
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