Cross-sectional study of paediatric case mix presenting to an emergency centre in Cape Town, South Africa, during COVID-19

Objective To describe and compare the effect of level 5 lockdown measures on the workload and case mix of paediatric patients presenting to a district-level emergency centre in Cape Town, South Africa. Methods Paediatric patients ( Results Emergency centre visits during the lockdown period (n=592) decreased by 58% compared with 2019 (n=1413) and by 56% compared with the 2020 prelockdown period (n=1342). The proportion of under 1 year olds increased by 10.4% (p Conclusion Significantly less children presented to the emergency centre since the implementation of the COVID-19 lockdown, with marked reductions in respiratory and infectious-related diseases and in injuries.