Government projections on SA Covid-19 fatalities questioned by private research group

Figures being used by the government to help prepare for the Covid-19 onslaught on the health system, estimate that around 40,000 people in South Africa could die of the disease by the end of November 2020. But a private sector research group is adamant that these projections are far too high – and is calling for greater transparency in the calculations used.

A private sector research group called Panda (Pandemic Data Analysis) has strongly questioned predictions as to South Africa’s Covid-19 fatalities that were made by modelling advisors to government.

On Tuesday, 2 June, Panda released an open letter to Professor Juliet Pulliam of the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis (Sacema) calling for the models used to arrive at Covid-19 death projections to be made public…..more