The Western Cape’s confirmed coronavirus cases has now increased to 702. At least 35 are in hospital with 16 in intensive care units (ICU).
There are a total of 205 recovered cases and 490 active cases.
Acknowledging that today would have been the end of the lockdown, Premier Alan Winde thanked those citizens who have been taking it seriously.
“We understand that this is hard – we have never faced a situation of this nature in this country before. But every single person who has complied has played a very important role in ensuring that we are able to reduce the number of infections, protect vulnerable groups and ultimately, to save lives,” said Winde.
“The next two weeks of lockdown are an opportunity for us to do even more to stop the spread. The more we do now, the more time we have to prepare ourselves and all of our systems, and the more lives we will be able to save,” he said.
The Western Cape Government has also put out a call for volunteers with medical experience. They said they have received 854 responses, which are all currently under review. Those still wishing to volunteer can fill out the form here.
The breakdown of the cases are as follows:
Sub Districts Cape Town Metro:
Sub-district Cases
– Western: 209
– Southern: 150
– Northern: 34
– Tygerberg: 66
– Eastern: 48
– Klipfontein: 39
– Mitchells Plain: 20
– Khayelitsha: 25
Total 591
Sub Districts Non-Metro:
District Sub-district Cases
– Garden Route Bitou: 5
– Garden Route Knysna: 13
– Garden Route George: 13
– Garden Route Hessequa: 5
– Garden Route Mossel Bay: 17
– Garden Route Oudtshoorn: 2
– Cape Winelands Stellenbosch: 14
– Cape Winelands Drakenstein: 7
– Cape Winelands Breede Valley: 9
– Cape Winelands Langeberg: 1
– Cape Winelands Witzenberg: 3
– Overberg Overstrand: 10
– Overberg Theewaterskloof: 1
– West Coast Saldanha Bay Municipality: 4
– West Coast Matzikama: 1
– West Coast Swartland: 2
* Due to updates to address data, two cases from Stellenbosch have been re-assigned to a different sub-district.
Community testing and screening will continue as it has been. So far, 28 718 people have been screened and 2102 people tested. In total, the province has conducted 12 785 tests for COVID-19.
The government has urged citizens to continue to follow the lockdown rules and minimise their time outside their home. They impressed that shopping centres are continuing to be a problem for transmission as evidenced by the number of stores having to close after a member of staff becomes ill.
Families are expected to only send out one member to do the shopping at a time, with those who are sick expected to stay home and contact the advised numbers should they experience symptoms.
Picture: Pixabay