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A nurse with a swab for a coronavirus test.
- The Western Cape has a risk-adjusted Covid-19 testing strategy in the Cape Town metro due to the high demand for Covid-19 testing.
- A higher proportion of tests are positive than during the peak of the first wave.
- The province is also registering more active cases and hospitalizations than during the first wave.
While a higher proportion of tests are currently positive than during the peak of the first wave, the Western Cape has introduced a risk-adjusted Covid-19 testing strategy in the Cape Town metro due to the high demand for testing in the Cape Town subway. province, Western Cape Prime Minister Alan Winde announced Monday.
This was done to ensure that testing is reserved for “situations where there is the greatest risk,” according to a statement.
The new testing criteria for the public sector in Cape Metro only include:
- People with coronavirus symptoms admitted to the hospital;
- People with coronavirus symptoms, who reside in large groups, confined spaces (nursing homes, nursing homes, prisons, etc.);
- People with symptoms of Covid-19 and who are at high risk of serious disease, including those over 45 years of age, and those with one or more of the following comorbidities: diabetes, high blood pressure, heart, kidney or lung disease, cancer, TB and HIV (and not on ARV treatment);
- Preoperative tests of asymptomatic patients awaiting surgery;
- Natural deaths in the home, where coronavirus symptoms were experienced before death;
- All healthcare workers with symptoms of Covid-19 and healthcare workers who are quarantined and asymptomatic on day seven (so they can return to work); and
- Those who previously tested positive but have developed new symptoms should only be tested 90 days after their first PCR test.
In the rest of the province, anyone experiencing symptoms of Covid-19 can still be tested.
Over the weekend, the Western Cape surpassed the 1 million mark of Covid-19 tests conducted in the province in both the public and private sectors since the start of the pandemic.
READ | SA exceeds one million cases of Covid-19
“Testing is an important tool in managing this virus, but it can never give us a complete picture of the situation. Testing should always go hand in hand with personal responsibility, infection prevention strategies, and quarantine and isolation. to get the most significant impact in slowing the spread of the virus, “Winde said.
Currently, the proportion of tests that are positive in the province is above 45%.
“This is higher than the proportion registered during the peak of the first wave and it is very worrying for us. We have also registered more active cases and more hospitalizations in this second wave than in the peak of the first.”
Since March, the province has registered almost 200,000 cases of Covid-19.
“While the vast majority of these have been able to recover, many have become seriously ill and required hospitalization. More than 6,300 people have lost their lives to this virus in the Western Cape. We must all do everything possible to stop the spread. of Covid-19, and to save lives. “
As of 1:00 p.m. on Monday, the Western Cape had 38,881 active Covid-19 infections with a total of 196,474 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 151,261 recoveries.
122 more deaths have been recorded in the province, bringing the total number of deaths from Covid-19 in the province to 6,332.
“We send our condolences to his loved ones at this time,” Winde said.
A total of 3,064 patients were hospitalized, with 363 in intensive care units or higher care units.
– Compiled by Jan Gerber
