POLITICS

Most of 93 Covid-19 deaths reported yesterday were old ones – Alan Winde

WCape Premier says these had not occurred in hospitals and so were not initially counted

Media Release: Update on the coronavirus by Premier Alan Winde

5 August 2020

As of 1pm on 5 August, the Western Cape has 9652 active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 96 446 confirmed cases and 83 529 recoveries.

Total confirmed COVID-19 cases

96446

Total recoveries

83529

Total deaths

3265

Total active cases (currently infected patients)

9652

Tests conducted

428029

Hospitalisations

1359 with 295 in ICU or high care

Cape Metro Sub-districts:

 Sub-district

Cases

 

Recoveries

Western

8114

 7145

Southern

8410

 7320

Northern

5641

 5070

Tygerberg

11888

 10550

Eastern

8845

 7746

Klipfontein

8426

 7380

Mitchells Plain

7649

 6712

Khayelitsha

7855

 7157

Total

66828

59080

Sub-districts:

 District

 Sub-district

Cases

Recoveries

Garden Route

Bitou

459

335

Garden Route

Knysna

1094

793

Garden Route

George

2768

2096

Garden Route

Hessequa

202

166

Garden Route

Kannaland

58

47

Garden Route

Mossel Bay

1542

1056

Garden Route

Oudsthoorn

605

332

Cape Winelands

Stellenbosch

1850

1611

Cape Winelands

Drakenstein

3915

3472

Cape Winelands

Breede Valley

2863

2487

Cape Winelands

Langeberg

1015

869

Cape Winelands

Witzenberg

1341

1087

Overberg

Overstrand

1400

1246

Overberg

Cape Agulhas

217

160

Overberg

Swellendam

246

221

Overberg

Theewaterskloof

1017

859

West Coast

Bergrivier

360

311

West Coast

Cederberg

126

89

West Coast 

Matzikama

236

180

West Coast

Saldanha Bay Municipality

1193

1019

West Coast

Swartland

1250

995

Central Karoo

Beaufort West

315

158

Central Karoo

Laingsburg

35

22

Central Karoo

Prince Albert

6

1

Unallocated: 5525 (4837 recovered)

Data note: It is not always possible to check and verify that the address data supplied for each new recorded case is correct, within the time frames required to provide regular and timely updates. This means that in some instances, cases could be allocated to the wrong sub-districts. We are working with the sub-districts to clean and verify the data and where errors are picked up locally, cases will be re-allocated to the correct areas. 

More data is available here: https://coronavirus.westerncape.gov.za/covid-19-dashboard

The Western Cape has recorded an additional 29 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 3265.  We send our condolences to the loved ones of all the deceased at this time.

Stellenbosch testing and triage centre opens:

Today, Health Minister Nomafrench Mbombo opened the new testing and triage centre in Stellenbosch. This is one of 26 of these facilities which have already been completed across the province, with others still under construction. These centres allow hospitals to separate testing and triage from their other healthcare activities. While the province has seen a decline in the number of new cases in certain areas, these centres will still be play an important role in testing in the coming months as we expect the virus to be around for many more months.

Minister Mbombo also visited Kayamandi for a community activation aimed at sharing information with community members to help slow the spread.

In addition to the testing centre, work on the first phase of of the Sonstraal hospital in Paarl is well under way, with the first 63 additional beds due to come online on 10 August

The Cape Winelands District Municipality has recorded a total of 10984 infections and 9526 recoveries-a recovery rate of over 85%. 

I am also pleased to see the increased uptake in the use of quarantine and isolation facilities in the Cape Winelands district over the past few weeks-almost doubling from 29% to 57%. These facilities are an important tool in slowing the spread, creating a safe and comfortable space for people who have tested positive for COVID-19 to isolate or for those who are direct contacts of a positive case, to quarantine. These facilities are especially important if you share your home with anyone who might be high risk- such as an elderly parent, or a loved one with an underlying illness.

I call on all residents in this region to work with us to ensure that we are able to slow the spread, save more lives and ensure that we do not have a second wave of infections.

The Cape Winelands is an important farming region in the Western Cape, contributing significantly to our economy, to job creation and to food security in the province. We therefore encourage all businesses to take the necessary precautions to ensure that their staff are kept safe. Slowing the spread of this virus will also allow for more areas of our economy to open up, so that we can avoid the second unemployment pandemic.

Further information on the historical deaths reported yesterday:

Yesterday, the Western Cape reported 93 additional deaths- with the majority of these being historical deaths which have now been correctly allocated as COVID-19 deaths. These deaths did not occur in hospitals, and as such, our Department of Health may not have picked up a COVID-19 positive result. 

These deaths were recorded as follows:

4 deaths in May

33 deaths in June

16 deaths in July

and 8 deaths in August.

The Western Cape has been working closely with the NICD, using sophisticated, integrated systems to cross reference excess reported deaths to determine if they are COVID-19 related in order to ensure that our records are as accurate as possible. As we continue with these processes, we will continue to keep residents informed.

Issued by Western Cape Office of the Premier, 5 August 2020