Table 1. Patient characteristics stratified by time period.
| Characteristic | Wave 1 | Post wave 1 | Wave 2 | Post wave 2 | Wave 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 85,743) | (n = 16,084) | (n = 107,973) | (n = 25,015) | (n = 107,885) | ||
| Age (years) | 0–14 | 1,904 (2%) | 724 (5%) | 2,376 (2%) | 1,172 (5%) | 3,459 (3%) |
| 15–34 | 13,064 (15%) | 3,198 (20%) | 12,535 (12%) | 4,754 (19%) | 13,586 (13%) | |
| 35–59 | 41,907 (49%) | 7,110 (44%) | 49,582 (46%) | 10,196 (41%) | 47,630 (44%) | |
| 60–64 | 8,357 (10%) | 1,391 (9%) | 12,350 (11%) | 2,347 (9%) | 10,551 (10%) | |
| 65–69 | 6,433 (8%) | 1,122 (7%) | 10,345 (10%) | 2,092 (8%) | 9,515 (9%) | |
| 70–74 | 4,926 (6%) | 936 (6%) | 8,482 (8%) | 1,727 (7%) | 8,347 (8%) | |
| 75+ | 9,152 (11%) | 1,603 (10%) | 12,303 (11%) | 2,727 (11%) | 14,797 (14%) | |
| Sex | Female | 47,767 (56%) | 8,936 (56%) | 60,267 (56%) | 14,070 (56%) | 57,421 (53%) |
| Male | 37,895 (44%) | 7,128 (44%) | 47,635 (44%) | 10,932 (44%) | 50,407 (47%) | |
| Unknown | 81 (<1%) | 20 (<1%) | 71 (<1%) | 13 (<1%) | 57 (<1%) | |
| Any comorbidity* | Yes | 38,370 (45%) | 6,163 (38%) | 45,334 (42%) | 9,945 (40%) | 38,269 (35%) |
| No | 30,252 (35%) | 5,767 (36%) | 40,302 (37%) | 9,283 (37%) | 45,811 (42%) | |
| Unknown | 17,121 (20%) | 4,154 (26%) | 22,337 (21%) | 5,787 (23%) | 23,805 (22%) | |
| Hypertension | Yes | 24,061 (29%) | 3,549 (23%) | 29,170 (28%) | 6,051 (25%) | 25,686 (25%) |
| No | 36,516 (44%) | 7,398 (48%) | 50,011 (48%) | 11,520 (48%) | 52,819 (50%) | |
| Unknown | 22,792 (27%) | 4,599 (30%) | 25,311 (24%) | 6,544 (27%) | 26,259 (25%) | |
| Diabetes | Yes | 17,865 (21%) | 2,467 (16%) | 19,956 (19%) | 3,658 (15%) | 15,267 (15%) |
| No | 41,988 (50%) | 8,214 (53%) | 56,788 (54%) | 13,310 (55%) | 60,919 (58%) | |
| Unknown | 23,516 (28%) | 4,865 (31%) | 27,748 (27%) | 7,147 (30%) | 28,578 (27%) | |
| Cardiac Disease | Yes | 2,039 (2%) | 362 (2%) | 1,603 (2%) | 377 (2%) | 1,206 (1%) |
| No | 54,682 (66%) | 9,651 (62%) | 69,516 (67%) | 14,539 (60%) | 68,690 (66%) | |
| Unknown | 26,648 (32%) | 5,533 (36%) | 33,373 (32%) | 9,199 (38%) | 34,868 (33%) | |
| Chromic Pulmonary Disease | Yes | 2,237 (3%) | 344 (2%) | 2,507 (2%) | 509 (2%) | 1,937 (2%) |
| No | 54,162 (65%) | 9,597 (62%) | 68,242 (65%) | 14,324 (59%) | 67,717 (65%) | |
| Unknown | 26,970 (32%) | 5,605 (36%) | 33,743 (32%) | 9,282 (38%) | 35,110 (34%) | |
| Asthma | Yes | 3,458 (4%) | 554 (4%) | 3,650 (3%) | 797 (3%) | 3,391 (3%) |
| No | 54,190 (65%) | 9,530 (61%) | 68,219 (65%) | 15,032 (62%) | 68,580 (65%) | |
| Unknown | 25,721 (31%) | 5,462 (35%) | 32,623 (31%) | 8,286 (34%) | 32,793 (31%) | |
| Chronic Renal Failure | Yes | 1,833 (2%) | 237 (2%) | 1,708 (2%) | 273 (1%) | 1,249 (1%) |
| No | 54,676 (66%) | 9,723 (63%) | 68,888 (66%) | 14,483 (60%) | 68,313 (65%) | |
| Unknown | 26,860 (32%) | 5,586 (36%) | 33,896 (32%) | 9,359 (39%) | 35,202 (34%) | |
| Malignancy | Yes | 575 (1%) | 107 (1%) | 383 (<1%) | 84 (<1%) | 311 (<1%) |
| No | 55,648 (67%) | 9,807 (63%) | 70,112 (67%) | 14,671 (61%) | 69,063 (66%) | |
| Unknown | 27,146 (33%) | 5,632 (36%) | 33,997 (33%) | 9,360 (39%) | 35,390 (34%) | |
| Tuberculosis | Yes | 1,081 (1%) | 310 (2%) | 990 (1%) | 387 (2%) | 664 (1%) |
| No | 56,142 (67%) | 9,685 (62%) | 70,017 (67%) | 15,237 (63%) | 69,722 (67%) | |
| Unknown | 26,146 (31%) | 5,551 (36%) | 33,485 (32%) | 8,491 (35%) | 34,378 (33%) | |
| Tuberculosis Past | Yes | 1,621 (2%) | 346 (2%) | 1,884 (2%) | 429 (2%) | 1,075 (1%) |
| No | 54,165 (65%) | 9,402 (60%) | 67,315 (64%) | 14,074 (58%) | 66,165 (63%) | |
| Unknown | 27,583 (33%) | 5,798 (37%) | 35,293 (34%) | 9,612 (40%) | 37,524 (36%) | |
| HIV Positive | Yes | 5,545 (7%) | 1,075 (7%) | 5,883 (6%) | 1,799 (7%) | 3,926 (4%) |
| No | 52,061 (62%) | 9,009 (58%) | 65,616 (63%) | 14,123 (59%) | 67,538 (64%) | |
| Unknown | 25,763 (31%) | 5,462 (35%) | 32,993 (32%) | 8,193 (34%) | 33,300 (32%) | |
| Obesity | Yes | 2,543 (3%) | 436 (3%) | 3,052 (3%) | 574 (2%) | 2,101 (2%) |
| No | 33,331 (40%) | 1,758 (11%) | 15,519 (15%) | 3,751 (16%) | 12,258 (12%) | |
| Unknown | 47,495 (57%) | 13,352 (86%) | 85,921 (82%) | 19,790 (82%) | 90,405 (86%) | |
| Sector | Private | 42,249 (49%) | 8,084 (50%) | 49,370 (46%) | 11,130 (44%) | 56,951 (53%) |
| Public | 43,494 (51%) | 8,000 (50%) | 58,603 (54%) | 13,885 (56%) | 50,934 (47%) | |
| Province | Eastern Cape | 8,878 (10%) | 2,000 (12%) | 16,317 (15%) | 1,154 (5%) | 4,437 (4%) |
| Free State | 7,504 (9%) | 462 (3%) | 3,888 (4%) | 1,101 (4%) | 7,544 (7%) | |
| Gauteng | 25,913 (30%) | 5,861 (36%) | 23,957 (22%) | 7,681 (31%) | 48,066 (45%) | |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 13,585 (16%) | 3,359 (21%) | 24,509 (23%) | 3,882 (16%) | 9,066 (8%) | |
| Limpopo | 2,175 (3%) | 290 (2%) | 5,214 (5%) | 1,199 (5%) | 5,587 (5%) | |
| Mpumalanga | 2,420 (3%) | 951 (6%) | 4,365 (4%) | 2,659 (11%) | 4,236 (4%) | |
| North West | 6,153 (7%) | 352 (2%) | 4,561 (4%) | 2,722 (11%) | 8,846 (8%) | |
| Northern Cape | 2,425 (3%) | 142 (1%) | 1,861 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 3,103 (3%) | |
| Western Cape | 16,690 (19%) | 2,667 (17%) | 23,301 (22%) | 4,617 (18%) | 17,000 (16%) |
*Patients were classified as having a comorbidity if they had at least one of the following reported: hypertension, diabetes, cardiac disease, chromic pulmonary disease, asthma, chronic renal failure, malignancies, active tuberculosis, history of tuberculosis, HIV or obesity.