The Western Cape has been leading the country’s COVID-19 cases, and is labelled as South Africa’s epicentre. There is good news, however, as the province has officially reached above a 70% recovery rate.
A total of 35 958 recoveries out of the then 51 351 confirmed cases were recorded as of June 22, showing that more than 70% of infected patients in the province have successfully recovered.
As of June 23, a total of 37 234 recoveries out of 52 178 confirmed cases were recorded, with the Cape reaching a new milestone in deaths. A total of 1500 deaths have now been recorded with the highest number of deaths in one day being recorded at 76.
The Western Cape has had a total of 52 178 confirmed cases of the virus, which is rising daily. The province is expected to reach its peak in COVID-19 cases in the last week of June and the first week of July.
“We still are tracking according to our original scenario that we sketched for this virus, and are still on track for peaking towards the end of this month and the beginning of next month, and that means that as we open up the economy we have to be more vigilant than ever,” Premier Alan Winde said during the weekly digi-conference.
“We’ve got to make sure that we embed the new normal, and specifically into those hotspot areas so that we keep down the growth of this virus.”
Dr Keith Cloete, HoD of the Western Cape Health Department said the province’s status as a popular tourism destination may have contributed towards the high rate of cases.
According to Cloete, “quite a lot” of people visited the Western Cape at the end of March, and these included tourists from outside the country, and locals who were returning from overseas. This effectively led to local transmission cases, which then led to the current hotspots the province has.
Picture: Pexels