“Residents urged to flatten the curve in the Western Cape”
The Western Cape is continuing to see an increase in COVID-19 infections, hospitalisations and deaths, and I call on residents to once again flatten the curve and save lives.
We are now well and truly in the third wave and residents must be on high alert, practising the lifesaving behaviours that we have learnt over the past year.
While we have taken numerous steps to prepare our platform for the third wave, each of us must play our part in preventing the healthcare system from being overwhelmed, and in turn, preventing avoidable deaths.
Our data shows us that:
- The Reproductive number or R value is currently 1.25 which indicates that infections are continuing to accelerate;
- There are on average 1039 new diagnoses each day;
- Admissions are increasing with an average of 86 new admissions per day;
- Deaths have also started to increase now, with around 15 deaths each day; and
- The week-on-week increase in current admissions reached 15% in the previous week.
During this time of heightened risk, I also call on residents to form small ‘bubbles’ with their families and to limit interactions with others outside of these bubbles as far as possible.
Please be mindful of those at high risk of severe COVID-19 related illness when doing so and consider limiting social gatherings as far as possible during this time.
If you must meet, please ensure strict compliance with the golden rules, by wearing a mask, keeping a distance, and ensuring the meeting is small, short and outside, with good ventilation.
If we all intervene quickly to interrupt the chain of transmission, we can flatten the curve as we did in the first and second wave.
“Western Cape to receive 191 880 Pfizer doses to be used over 2 weeks”
The Western Cape Government has received confirmation from the National Department of Health that we will receive 191 880 doses of Pfizer this week, to be used over 2 weeks.
We have also so far received 26 400 doses of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) for educators which began yesterday. The weekly supply pipeline of J&J is also expected to be confirmed over the coming week.
Our vaccine rollout plan has been impacted by a constrained vaccine supply and will need to be adjusted. But with the additional tranche, I believe that we will soon get our vaccine programme back on track.
The Western Cape is taking an age-based approach to the vaccine rollout, which will vary at the suburb level. I again call for the EVDS system to allow registrations of those aged 50 to 59 as soon as possible.
To date, we have received a total of 294 840 vaccines, of which 278 332 have already been administered as at 23 June.
“Western Cape has 213 active vaccine sites in private sector, metro and rural communities & ready to scale up”
Our vaccine rollout programme has been linked to the number of vaccines available in the province. The purpose of this is to prevent a stop/start approach to our vaccine rollout since we began on 17 May.
To date, we have cumulatively brought brought 218 vaccine sites online, which include:
- 65 public active sites in the metro;
- 112 public active sites in rural communities; and
- 41 private active sites.
With the additional vaccine supply on route, we are prepared to scale up the number of vaccine sites further to ensure that each resident has a site that is conveniently located and near to where they stay.
“Western Cape is bringing 3 mass vaccination sites online in Metro, Cape Flats & Bellville”
In our commitment to rolling out a successful vaccine programme, we have been hard at work identifying and establishing mass vaccination sites. These sites will help us to rapidly increase the number of vaccines administered.
The three sites include:
The use of the CTICC which is made possible through a partnership with the City of Cape Town and Discovery;
The Metropolitan Health or Momentum mass site at the Parc Du Cap premises in Bellville opened on 4 June 2021. This site will serve as a private sector site primarily and we will partner with this site to ensure access for uninsured clients; and
Assessments have been carried out for a site in the Cape Flats. This site will likely be brought online within a month of the launch of the CTICC.
“Western Cape continues to exceed weekly vaccination targets”
Since the beginning of the mass vaccination programme, we have consistently exceeded weekly vaccination targets despite constraints in the vaccine supply.
We have ensured that:
- In week 1, we vaccinated 10 327 people against a target of 10 000;
- In week 2, we vaccinated 35 906 people against a target of 30 000;
- In week 3, we vaccinated 67 639 people against a target of 60 000;
- In week 4, we vaccinated 72 847 people against a revised target of 70 000;
- In week 5, we vaccinated 60 286 people against a revised target of 60 000; and
- In week 6, we vaccinated 53 000 people against a revised target of 50 000.
These targets are set against the supply provided to us by the national government and will vary week-on-week.
This week we are projected to vaccinate over 80 000 residents and over 100 000 people in week 8.
“Western Cape has prepared its health platform for a surge of hospitalisations, but we need your help to flatten the curve”
We are also continuing to closely monitor the usage of beds across our province, through a centrally coordinated and professional operation, known as the Bed Bureau Management System.
We have provisioned for 636 intermediate COVID-19 care beds, which are broken down as follows:
- 336 beds at the Brackengate Hospital of Hope, which was opened towards the end of the first wave (21 July 2020), and kept open for a second wave.
- 200 beds at the Mitchells Plain Hospital of Hope which can be activated at any given time.
- 40 beds at Ward 99 in Lentegeur Hospital. This was opened after the peak of the first wave and had very low occupancy. It was retained in preparation for a second wave.
- 60 beds at the Sonstraal Hospital, which was prepared and opened after the first wave peak. These beds were retained in preparation for a second wave.
In the Western Cape, the total general bed use rate is at 86%, the total COVID-19 bed use rate is at 24%, and the total designated COVID-19 critical care bed use rate is at 40%.
Insofar as our drainage areas are concerned:
- The Metro has 5041 beds, of which the general bed use rate is 95%, the COVID-19 bed use rate is 22%;
- The George drainage area has 918 beds, of which the general bed use rate is 64%, the COVID-19 bed use rate is 21%;
- The Paarl drainage area has 938 beds, of which the general bed use rate is 78%; the COVID-19 bed use rate is 43%; and
- The Worcester drainage area has 769 beds, of which the general bed use rate is 69%, the COVID-19 bed use rate is 25%.
We ask that you help us flatten the curve so that we continue to have enough beds for every person who needs them.
“LetsDoThis: we all have a role to play in registering the elderly”
Our health data shows us that some communities are struggling to get their elderly residents vaccinated. These communities are predominantly poorer and struggle with internet access.
Going forward, the Western Cape Government will begin simultaneously registering and administering vaccines in those communities to ramp up our vaccine rollout process.
At the same time, I call on residents to continue playing their part and helping to register those who might otherwise struggle with technology or who have limited internet access.
Registration is simple and can be done by:
Visiting https://vaccine.enroll.health.gov.za/#/ or www.westerncape.gov.za;
Dialling *134*832# and follow the prompts (FREE on all South African Networks); or
WhatsApp the word REGISTER to 0600 123456.
