‘Case numbers increase, although at slower rate’ – Premier Winde

THE Western Cape has recorded a 13.5% increase in Covid-19 infections this week, compared to 29% in the previous week.

Premier Alan Winde said the reproductive number has decreased to 1.1 from 1.2 last week, which means that for every 10 active cases, there are an additional 11 new cases.

This ‘R’ number is still above 0, however, which means that there’s been no decline.

“Case numbers are continuing to increase, although at a slower rate, and we are seeing an average of 2 335 new diagnoses each day. The proportion of positive Covid-19 tests has remained high at around 32%.

“Admissions are increasing with an average of 280 new admissions a day. Deaths have also increased now to approximately 60 deaths a day,” Winde said.

With nearly 46 000 education sector staff members vaccinated, the Western Cape has achieved 84% of its target number for the province.

The Basic Education Department extended the vaccine roll-out dates to this past Monday when additional doses became available.

For the most part in the province, the process ran smoothly, Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said.

“We had some challenges with the cold and rainy weather, and with staff arriving at sites at a time other than their scheduled appointment. However, most of our staff were patient and co-operative, and the atmosphere at the vaccination sites was one of optimism and hope.

“The WCED has yet to collate how many staff there are in the sector overall who did not take up the offer.

“Once the process is over, we will work with the Department of Health to determine the numbers of those that have not been vaccinated in the sector roll-out, and how many have been vaccinated through the ‘over 60’ and ‘over 50’ roll-out.”