GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The latest Covid-19 statistics of the Western Cape Health Department show that the Garden Route - in the peak of the third wave - is experiencing a more intense wave than the previous two.
Western Cape Head of Health Dr Keith Cloete says the Western Cape is now "solidly" in the third resurgence peak, but with signs of stabilisation in the number of new cases. An average of 3 100 new cases are diagnosed in the province each day.
Speaking in the provincial weekly Covid-19 digital conference on Thursday 12 August, Cloete warned that being at the peak means that the number of active cases is currently the highest of what the province has experienced at any given time, so the risk of being exposed at gatherings is extremely high. It is crucial that people keep to their "bubble" to avoid exposure to infection.
Garden Route plateaus
Cloete said there are clear signs that the resurgence in the Garden Route and Overberg is plateauing.
The Garden Route has shown a 2% drop in the daily increase in new cases and the Overberg a drop of 7%.
Overall, the province's rural districts show a 1% increase in the daily case numbers.
District health spokesperson Nadia Ferreira said the total number of deaths in the Garden Route as at 17 August stood at 2 016. "It appears that Covid-19 fatalities are slowly decreasing."
The Garden Route is showing a decline in the number of daily new cases reported.
Additional oxygen brought in
An additional 22 tons of oxygen are brought into the Western Cape by tankers per day to supplement the production capacity of the province to meet the demand for hospitalised patients.
Cloete said the combined use of the private and public health sector is 76,99 tons while the Afrox Western Cape plant produces only 75 tons.
The public sector's total average bulk oxygen consumption is 47,06 tons a day. No facility has run out of oxygen supplies.
The Garden Route's third wave is higher than the first and second.
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