Bitou cases rise again
REGIONAL - While Knysna's fight against the third wave of the pandemic continues to ease off, Bitou battles on with yet another rise in active cases and weekly new cases.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Sunday 12 September that the country would be moved from an adjusted level 3 down to level 2. This brings eased restrictions on events and liquor sales and much more, along with the curfew being changed to fall between the hours of 23:00 and 04:00 every evening.
The easing of the restrictions comes as the country slowly moves out of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has been combatted for the past three months by a vaccination drive that gains momentum by the day.
Last week the number of fully vaccinated people in the Western Cape crossed the one-million mark. The number of fully vaccinated people stood on 1 004 089 as at 10 September, while a total of 2 423 362 vaccines have been administered as at 12 September.
When it comes to vaccine registrations, the province is edging closer to the twomillion mark. As at Tuesday 14 September, 1 981 646 people had registered to receive the vaccine. The Garden Route makes up 9,23% of these, with a total of 182 895 registrations.
The 60+ age group stands on 63 298 registrations, the 50 to 59 group on
35 134, the 35 to 49 age group has 52 579 registrations, and the 18 to 34 age group has seen 31 884 registrations.
As at Tuesday 14 September, Knysna had recorded a total of 7 844 cases of Covid-19, of which 7 319 have recovered, 245 have died, and 280 are active cases. This indicates a total of 132 new cases in the seven days between 7 and 14 September, which amounts to a 21,43%% decrease (-36) from the previous week.
The number of active cases also dropped, by 16,91% (-57) this week, the lowest number since 29 June. The recovery rate has risen again and stands on 93,31% (92,58% last week). The deaths have however increased for the 13th week in a row with a rise of +10, with the mortality rate now on 3,1%.
In Bitou as at Tuesday, 4 104 Covid-19 cases had been recorded, with 3 716 having recovered, 124 having died and 264 being active cases. This shows a total of 160 new cases recorded between 7 and 14 September, rising by 10,34% (+15) from last week. With the active cases rising by 7,32% (+18) this week, it is now the highest number of active cases in the third wave.
The recovery rate here dropped ever so slightly, standing on 90,55% (90,69% last week). The deaths have risen by three this week - the joint second-highest rise during the third wave - and the mortality rate stands on 3%.