Statement by Premier Alan Winde: We welcome the positive steps taken to resolve the testing backlog 

12 Jun 2020

We welcome the positive steps taken which have resulted in a considerable reduction of the COVID-19 testing backlog in the Western Cape. 

The Western Cape first raised the testing backlog with President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister Zweli Mkhize at the beginning of May. At the time, provinces had started to ramp up testing and the National Health Laboratory Services started to experience shortages of testing kits and reagents which were further compounded by global demand for these important items. 

At the worst of the backlog, 27 000 tests from the Western Cape were sitting in the bottleneck and the Western Cape had to adopt a risk adjusted testing strategy to ensure that those people who are most at risk and who need testing the most, are prioritised.  

The backlog has now been significantly reduced and stood at approximately 3700 tests on Wednesday. We anticipate that it will be fully resolved in the coming days. We are aware that there is a global demand for test kits and reagents and supplies of these are not certain. We will therefore continue to monitor the situation to determine whether the increased capacity can be sustained and that new backlogs do not start to form, before making a decision on whether to adapt or change our testing strategy again. 

Testing widely is an important tool in tracking, understanding and managing the pandemic. However, it is also vitally important that test results are received quickly, especially for healthcare workers, those in hospitals and those vulnerable groups who are most at risk of serious illness, which is why we took the decision to prioritize these groups. 

Until all the systems are functioning seamlessly to allow us to open up testing more widely again, our advice to healthy people under the age of 55 who may be experiencing symptoms is to behave as if you have tested positive for COVID-19. This includes self-isolating for a period of 14 days. During this period you must stay at home, and keep yourself separated from any other people living in your home. If you are not able to do this, contact our hotline on 021 928 4102 to be referred to one of our isolation or quarantine facilities.

I would also like to thank President Ramaphosa and Minister Mkhize for their efforts and interventions to ensure that the Western Cape's concerns were addressed, and the NHLS for their hard work in reducing the backlogs. We value this collaborative effort in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Issued by Western Cape Office of the Premier, 12 June 2020