Excess Deaths

Covid-19 in South Africa: Which approach should we take now?

The trick to tackling Covid-19 at this stage is to be adaptive. The government’s one-size-fits-all approach is broken; we need to be more flexible. But we should not throw away…

Philip Machanick

12 min read

An undertaker wearing personal protective equipment applies a sticker to a casket at the Avbob funeral house in Soweto earlier this week. (Photo: Marco Longari/AFP)

CORONAVIRUS

3 DEC 2020

Excess deaths rise, starting in Covid hotspot Eastern Cape

As the pandemic’s second wave spreads through the country, the number of excess deaths increases too

Boitumelo Kgobotlo

3 min read

Burying the dead: An aerial photo taken earlier this month shows a row of freshly dug graves at a cemetery in Johannesburg. (Photo: Marco Longari)

CORONAVIRUS

23 JUL 2020

Excess deaths increase but we are ‘still in the dark’

The data shows 17 000 more people have died than usual since May, but only 6 000 deaths have officially been attributed to Covid-19

M&G Data Desk

5 min read