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Nurses at the Mediclinc George Hospital in the Western Cape.
- New Covid-19 cases are now being handled by the Cape Metro, confirmed the head of health in the Western Cape.
- On December 2, the new cases of Covid-19 in a week amounted to 7,518. On December 9, they were 11,533.
- Cape Winelands has now been flagged as an area of concern.
The Western Cape has seen a whopping 53.4% increase in new Covid-19 cases.
On December 2, the new cases amounted to 7,518. By December 9, it had risen to 11,533.
And the increase was no longer being driven by Garden Route, said provincial health chief Dr. Keith Cloete.
“These case numbers are being driven by the metro with contributions from all rural districts,” he confirmed on Thursday during the provincial government’s weekly digicon.
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Amid a second wave, the province, with 17.4%, came in second behind Gauteng, with 29%, in terms of accumulated infections.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize confirmed on Wednesday that the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were the key drivers of this new wave: the Western Cape alone accounted for 30% of the new cases recorded on Wednesday. .
Cloete explained that the province continued to see a marked increase in cases, taking it to levels previously seen in June, when the Western Cape surged towards its peak.
“The positive percentage proportion [cases] it continues to rise and is now above 30%, rapidly heading towards our previous high of just over 40%, “said Cloete.
Cases
“The key message is that cases, hospitalizations and the proportion [of] positive [cases] they are heading rapidly towards the levels observed at the peak of the outbreak. We must also be aware that this time we do not have the protection of a confinement or an alcohol ban. “
On the subway, a “sharp and rapid rise” was observed in the southern sub-district, stretching from Melkbosstrand to Simon’s Town, and the western sub-district, which included Darling and Atlantis.
Cape Winelands had also been flagged as an area of concern, with Stellenbosch showing an increase in cases in a “community outreach” pattern. In the Breede Valley, widespread cases have been recorded, especially on farms, Cloete said, while there was little adherence to wearing masks in the city and in taxis.
READ | Covid-19: second wave ‘exceeding first peak’ on Garden Route
In the Langeberg region, clusters of infections had also been reported in factories.
According to Cloete, the rural areas of the province had passed their first peak.
“The Garden Route has also passed its first peak, but there are early signs that cases are stabilizing,” he confirmed.
Cloete, however, expressed alarm at the number of infections among healthcare workers. In the past seven days, 2,004 public health workers had been infected, compared with 159 the previous week.
“And we are talking about 25 admissions of health workers, 25 colleagues who are now admitted to the hospital because of Covid,” he lamented.
George Hospital had the most infections, at age 49, for the past four weeks. The Groote Schuur and Tygerberg hospitals had 43 and 40 respectively, but were five times the size of George’s facility, Cloete explained.
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“Health workers, like other essential workers, are actually contracting the virus in community settings and they come to the health center with the infections. It is not that there is no risk in the health center, but community transmission it’s a big concern. “
Three of these employees died in the past two weeks, two of them overnight.
Western Cape Prime Minister Alan Winde said it was important to refocus on protecting the healthcare system, changing behavior and, if this failed, establishing an effective law enforcement component.
According to the latest data on hospitalizations, there had been a rapid increase in admissions and death rates were on the rise.
The department said it had contingency plans by geographic area to expand the hospital’s Covid capacity as needed, but that alcohol-related trauma was a significant challenge.
“If you abuse alcohol, it ends up affecting those trauma beds and the healthcare system. In fact, it’s having an unfair effect on our front-line workers,” Winde said.
“Those beds that are specifically reserved for grandmother and those who experience difficulties while having this virus. We need to make sure that we have those beds and that there is oxygen in place for those who need it and not occupied by selfish people who do not adhere to the rules and not help us overcome this challenge.
“We all have to do our part and make sure we don’t overload this system.”
