WC Covid-19 numbers ‘stable’ for past 10 days, says health dept

Covid-19 numbers in the Western Cape are said to have been “stable” for the past 10 days, the health department has said, but it will still prepare for any eventuality with regards to the long-term trajectory.

“The number of confirmed new Covid-19 cases, admissions and deaths all suggest a gentle easing in the metro,” the department said in a statement on Friday.

“Though the projection seems to be slowing, we are working on the scenario that there could still be an increase in deaths and admissions. We will continue to monitor this against the modelling for a longer period to be prepared for any eventuality.”

This follows both Premier Alan Winde on Thursday and health department head Dr Keith Cloete on Wednesday suggesting there was a potential decline in the number of deaths and hospitalisations from Covid-19.

They both, however, warned it was “still early days” and too soon to say “the worst was over”.

In terms of healthcare workers, a total of 4,228 public healthcare workers in the Western Cape have been infected with Covid-19, of whom 29 have died.

Number of infections

This is according to statistics released by the provincial health department on Friday.

There are currently 567 active cases, while 3,263 – or 77.1% – have recovered.

Of the fatalities, 13 have been nurses while the other 16 performed other functions. No doctors have died.

The Western Cape currently has the second-highest number of infections in the country at 82,986, or 25.6% of the national total.

Gauteng accounts for 117,895 cases, or 36.4%, according to the numbers released by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on Thursday.

According to the provincial health department, 1,634 patients are currently being treated at public and private facilities, of which 317 patients are in intensive care units or high-care units.

“To date, we have had 82,264 confirmed cases, of which 79.6% (65,530) to date have recovered. We have had 2,493 deaths,” it said*.

In terms of hospital admissions, acute care is at 70% occupancy, which means the department still has sufficient beds available to treat both Covid-19 and non-Covid admissions, it said.

“We are beginning to prepare for the resumption of non-Covid elective medical care, which should come online within the next month.”

Meanwhile, 1,069 patients have been admitted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre’s “Hospital of Hope” as of 14 July. A total of 751 have been discharged while 58 deaths have been reported.

At the Thusong Centre in Khayelitsha, 198 patients have been admitted to date, 138 have been discharged and 28 have died.

*Due to different reporting times, the provincial statistics will differ from the national statistics by a few cases on a given day.

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