Covid-19 in W Cape nearing the peak
The province is moving closer to the peak and the Department of Health is recording over 1 000 new cases daily. So said Western Cape Premier Alan Winde in a statement on Tuesday evening.
Over the last week, the Garden Route district has seen an increase of 537 reported Covid-19 cases. On Wednesday 1 July, the total number of confirmed cases in the Garden Route stood at 1 257, with 432 recoveries.
George is currently dealing with the lion's share of confirmed cases at 652
(198 recoveries), followed by 221 cases in Mossel Bay (73 recoveries). The rest of the district's cases are as follows: Knysna 196 (92 recoveries); Oudtshoorn 75 (26 recoveries); Bitou 78 (23 recoveries); Hessequa 27 (17 recoveries) and Kannaland 8 (3 recoveries).
Western Cape Health district spokesperson Nadia Ferreira said George Hospital has 17 confirmed Covid-19 patients, of which seven are in ICU.
Mediclinic George manager Kassie Karstens confirmed on Wednesday that they currently have 10 positive cases in the hospital, of which six are being treated in ICU.
In the Garden Route a total number of 29 Covid-19-related deaths have been reported, of which 17 were in George. For the rest of the district the numbers are as follows: Hessequa 1; Mossel Bay 5; Knysna 5 and Bitou 1. No Covid-related deaths in have been reported in Kannaland and Oudtshoorn.
Western Cape
The Western Cape reported a total of 63 816 confirmed cases yesterday, Wednesday 1 July, with 44 938 recoveries. Since last week Tuesday, 23 June, an additional 354 deaths have been recorded in the Western Cape, bringing the total number of Covid19-related deaths in the province to 1 854. The sub-districts of Cape Town Metro reported a total of 46 987 cases, with 35 804 recoveries. The breakdown of the figures for the non-metro sub-districts are as follows: Cape Winelands 6 414 (4 029 recoveries); Overberg 1 179 (786 recoveries); West Coast 1 516 (874 recoveries) and Central Karoo 32 (2 recoveries).
Fake news
Winde expressed his concern over a number of new fake news messages that are once again circulating on social media networks. He said these messages are designed to spread fear and confusion among members of the public and parents of children returning to school.