Dr Cloete: COVID-19 cases in the Western Cape begin to show signs of stabilising
Updated | By Anastasi Mokgobu
The head of the Health Department in the Western Cape, Dr Keith Cloete, says the province has entered the peak of the second wave, with early signs of stabilisation.
He was briefing the health portfolio committee on healthcare services in relation to COVID-19.
The Western Cape accounts for 19.5% of the country’s COVID-19 positive cases.
Cloete says the metros have recorded an 8% drop in cases.
“We can now say that in the City of Cape Town, our active cases is starting to stabilise, the Garden Route has come out of a peak, Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City are also declining, West Coast is the only one that is still inclining but we expect a decline this week or early next week.
"Khayelitsha is at less than half of what it was in the second wave, it is much lower and all other areas in the metro have recorded significantly higher cases in the second wave as compared to the first wave,” says Dr Cloete.
He says the province has 7,693 total acute operational beds in the public sector.
Currently, a total of 3,323 COVID-19 patients are in acute hospitals, 1,889 in public hospitals, and 1,434 in private hospitals.
Dr Cloete says the province has seen a significant decrease in trauma cases since the ban of alcohol.
“There are so many things we had to downscale to keep the place for COVID-19, so the biggest problem for us was trauma, our system shows a significant decrease in trauma across our facilities because of the alcohol ban, the two weeks before the ban the peak of cases was 157 cases at five hospitals and on New Year’s Day, it was only 66 cases."
ALSO READ
Show's Stories
-
LISTEN: Actress Sophie Joans talks about her award-winning play
Two extraordinary stage talents, Sophie Joans and Rob van Vuuren, have t...
The Drive with Rob & Roz 13 hours ago -
LISTEN: The best road trip tips ahead of the Easter weekend
From traffic to packing, Rob Forbes and Rozanne McKenzie are sharing tip...
The Drive with Rob & Roz 15 hours ago