Media Release: Update on the coronavirus by Premier Alan Winde

25 September 2020

As of 1pm on 25 September, the Western Cape has reported 182 new COVID-19 infections with a total of 109 545 confirmed cases and 102 852 recoveries.

Cape Metro Sub-districts:

Sub-districts:

Unallocated: 2155 (2076 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. 

There has been a data delay in the reporting of the number of deaths. The last recorded number of deaths, as at 24 September, stood at 4155. We are working to resolve these delays.

ICU admissions drop below 100:

Today, I am pleased to announce that the number of people currently admitted to intensive care or high care units has dropped below 100. This is very good news and an additional sign that all of our efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 and to protect those most at risk of becoming seriously ill, are paying off. 

We wish those who are still in hospital, and those currently recovering well on their journey to full health and I urge everyone to continue to take precautions to protect themselves and others so that we can continue to record these positive signs of recovery.

World Pharmacy Day:

Today marks World Pharmacy Day, under the theme "Transforming Global Health". Pharmacists play an important role in our healthcare system as the people responsible for dispensing the medicines which help make sick people better, and which help our chronic patients manage their conditions.

Throughout the pandemic, the Western Cape Department of Health has been delivering medications to the homes of stable chronic patients, with over 600 000 medicine parcels delivered already.

In addition to this innovation designed to protect our vulnerable patients and assist in decongesting our facilities, pharmacists have still been on the frontline in most of our healthcare facilities to ensure that people attending these facilities got the medicines they needed.

In the Cape Metro region, roving pharmacy teams were used to replace team members who contracted COVID-19, or who had to go into quarantine ensuring that service was not significantly impacted by staff being out of action.

I would therefore like to send a special thank you to all of those pharmacists in the Western Cape healthcare system who have been active during the COVID-19 period, for their service to the people of this province. I would also like to thank the staff at our chronic dispensing unit who packaged medications for home deliveries, and the community healthcare workers who delivered these medicines, mostly on foot, in their communities.

The Western Cape Department of Health is now focusing its attention on rolling out and ramping up those healthcare services that may have been impacted during COVID-19. This is important so that we can provide other healthcare services that contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of our residents. 

We therefore encourage those who may have defaulted on their treatment during this time to make an appointment at a healthcare facility to determine the next steps with a healthcare professional.

Similarly, if you have put off any of your treatment, tests or your children's immunisations during the COVID-19 period, it is important that you contact your healthcare facility for an appointment to catch up on these. You may visit any healthcare facility within the Western Cape Government network, as there are no designated "catchment areas". We however encourage you to use the one closest, or most convenient for you.

When visiting your healthcare facility or any public place, it is very important that you wear a mask, clean or sanitize your hands, avoid touching your face, and practice social distancing to ensure that you remain safe.

World Tourism Day:

On Sunday, we also mark World Tourism Day under the theme "Tourism and Rural Development". The celebration of this day comes at a time when tourism around the globe, and here in the Western Cape, has been deeply impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The theme this year is especially fitting because tourism in the Western Cape supports thousands of jobs in our province and is one of the biggest job creators in our rural or non-metro areas. The hard lockdown, and the restrictions on both local and international travel have had a significant impact on this industry, resulting in thousands of job losses across the province. Those jobs allowed people across our province to put food on the table for themselves and their families and afforded them the dignity of employment. We must therefore do everything we can to ensure that we support this industry to gain back what it has lost and save jobs.

The Western Cape Government, in partnership with Wesgro have launched the "We Are Open" domestic tourism campaign to encourage South Africans to visit our region and explore some of our world class tourism and hospitality offerings.

The Western Cape, Cape Town and our assortment of attractions, and restaurants regularly feature on international awards lists. I therefore encourage residents of the Western Cape and the rest of South Africa to explore our region and discover why it is a destination on so many people from around the world's bucket lists.

We also await communication from the national government on the list of countries that will be allowed to travel when international tourism reopens on 1 October. The safe reopening of international travel is important to our efforts to save jobs in the sector and many businesses and prospective travelers are eagerly awaiting news of whether they will be allowed to travel.

Issued by Western Cape of the Office of the Premier, 25 September 2020