Media Release: Update on the coronavirus by Premier Alan Winde

27 October 2020

As of 1pm on 27 October, the Western Cape has 3239 active Covid-19 infections with a total of 115 268 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 107 687 recoveries.

Cape Metro Sub-districts:

Sub-districts:

Unallocated: 2045(1987 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. 

The Western Cape has recorded an additional 11 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 4331.  We send our condolences to their loved ones at this time.

Changing our behaviour will keep us moving forward:

There has been a lot of speculation and some fake news circulating indicating that the President will address the nation this week and announce a second lockdown in light of increasing case numbers in the country.

President Cyril Ramaphosa indicated today that this was not true. Additionally, each of his prior addresses have been preceded by a meeting of the President's Coordinating Council. This meeting is attended by the Premiers of all nine provinces, and I have not, at this stage, received any communication that a PCC meeting has been scheduled.

I therefore urge residents not to circulate messages that do not come from an official source, and that have not been verified.

A second lockdown would devastate our economy, which has already been heavily impacted by Covid-19, the hard lockdown and subsequent alert levels. A second lockdown will result in more jobs lost, more people going hungry and a deepening humanitarian crisis. 

However, I do want to make crystal clear that the best defense we have from a major spike in cases that would force additional restrictions to slow the spread, is our own behaviour.

The power to prevent that lies in each and every one of our hands right now.

We have also seen how other countries in the world have experienced, and continue to experience second waves of this virus, which are now resulting in second lockdowns.  

Across South Africa, we have seen new case numbers start to rise as people become tired or complacent. We have the opportunity now, and the gift of foresight provided by the experiences elsewhere in the world, to take the steps necessary to ensure that we slow the spread of the virus.

The Western Cape Government has the systems in place that allow us to track infections and zoom in where "bushfires" occur. In recent weeks, we have seen an increase in the number of young people contracting Covid-19, as well as an increase in the test positivity rate in the private sector.

Young people are likely to experience mild symptoms-if any, and to recover without complications but they could also infect someone who is at risk of serious illness or death. 

I therefore appeal to everyone to understand the seriousness of this situation and to take the appropriate steps to protect yourself. 

Wearing your mask, keeping a distance, and regularly washing your hands are simple behaviours that can help us beat this virus.

I also appeal to all businesses to evaluate their safety protocols to see whether there may be gaps, or room for improvement, and to ensure that they are fully compliant with the regulations in place.

Taking additional steps to prevent infections now, will help residents, businesses and our economy in the long run.

Now is the time for us all to be taking responsibility so that we can beat Covid-19, and ensure that we are able to move forward, and start rebuilding this province and this country.

Issued by Western Cape Office of the Premier, 27 October 2020