Oxygen use, hospitalisations in W Cape up

WESTERN CAPE NEWS - The Western Cape has seen a gradual increase in Covid-19 cases over the last 14 days with indicators such as oxygen use, hospitalisations and the proportion of positive tests all showing an uptake.

Western Cape Head of Health Dr Keith Cloete said during a digicon this morning, Thursday 27 May, that the province is experiencing 235 new cases and 35 new admissions to hospitals per day. Both figures are higher than two weeks ago.

"Deaths are stable at about four per day, whereas two weeks ago there were on average three per day," he said.

Steeper increase in affluent areas
He said the trend of affluent areas in the Cape Town metro reporting a steeper increase in cases is continuing and positive diagnoses are mostly in the private sector.

In the Garden Route, the numbers have been up and down. New cases are mostly among private patients and visitors to the district. "In George, a school and a holiday resort had some positive cases, but it is under control."

There has been a steady increase in cases on the West Coast because of its proximity to the Northern Cape where the third wave has started.

The Western Cape remains at risk of a third wave as the number of active cases are rising each week, Cloete said.

Indian, UK variants
No cases of the Indian novel coronavirus variant (B.1.617) have been reported in the province to date.

There have been no additional cases of the B.1.1.7 variant (the dominant variant in the UK) to the nine cases identified in the Western Cape early in May. (A total of 33 cases of the UK variant have been detected in South Africa so far.)

International travel regulations are still under consideration at national level. "It is difficult to preside over these regulations because these variants are in multiple countries. In the absence of regulations, our vigilance at Cape Town International Airport has increased and we have added additional capacity to port health for incoming travellers on international trips. Our scientists remain confident that B.1.531 will remain the dominant strain in our context for the coming months," said Cloete.

In the Cape Town metro, Strand and Somerset West are showing a rise in positive Covid-19 tests. A school and holiday resort had some cases, but these are under control:

The South African variant B.1.531 is expected to remain the dominant variant in the coming months.

The province is officially in a resurgence but not in the third wave yet. The green line indicates the daily increase in oxygen uptake, the blue line an increase in hospitalisations and the yellow line the proportion of positive tests going to the laboratory, which is still below 10% but creeping up to 6,5%: