Health authorities in the Western Cape say they’re recording a steep third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic driven by the Delta variant. The province is urging everyone to adhere strictly to protective behaviour to contain the spread of the virus.
The province presented its weekly digital briefing on COVID-19.
With about 200 vaccination sites throughout the province, the Western Cape hopes to open several more mass vaccination centres in the coming weeks.
There are more than 18 000 active cases, with the province saying it is in the grip of the third wave.
Health Department authorities are calling on everyone to observe safety protocols and for everyone eligible to register to be vaccinated.
Head of Department of the province’s Health Department, Dr Keith Cloete, says there’s a 51% week-on-week increase in infections.
“Admissions are currently about 135 new admissions per day and we are currently recording about 25 deaths per day. So, that’s the picture of rapid increase in the province. If we take the metro, it’s a 44% increase week-on-week, all sub-districts have now shown marked increases in places. Most cases are predominantly diagnosed in the private sector, but the public sector cases are also now increasing.”
The province says it has noted a week-on-week increase of 63% in rural areas.
Medicine Specialist in the Western Cape Health Department, Professor Mary-Anne Davies is calling on people to isolate if they have flu-like symptoms, even before testing for COVID-19.
Davies says the symptom profile for COVID-19 is different from the current Delta variant.
“Instead of severe fever and loss of smell and a loss of taste that were very prominent in the first and second wave, what we are seeing now is that the symptom profile does seem to be different and it’s more like a common cold. It can be a headache, a sore throat, a runny nose and sneezing with no fever at all, and this is important because people may think ‘I just go a normal cold’ and may not realise that they are a case and they need to isolate.”
Over 430 000 people, including healthcare workers as part of the Sisonke trial, have been vaccinated in the province.
Over 12 000 educators have also received their vaccines.
Walk-ins have been allowed in some areas like Khayelitsha.
South Africa has recorded 19 506 new COVID-19 cases, taking the national toll to 1 973 972 since the outbreak of the pandemic.
383 new COVID-19-related deaths have been reported in the past 24-hours. The total number of people who have succumbed to COVID-19-related complications now stands at 60 647.
Total recoveries are 1 748 042.
70 593 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, translating to a positivity rate of 27,6% with the 19 506 new cases.
Gauteng accounted for just over 57% of all the new infections, 11 160 new cases have been reported in the province.
Snapshot of COVID-19 cases:
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