Premier Alan Winde update on Coronavirus COVID-19 on 14 October

As of 1pm on 14 October, the Western Cape has 2818 active COVID-19 infections with a total of 112 605 confirmed cases and 105 510 recoveries.

Cape Metro Sub-districts:

Sub-districts:

Unallocated: 2141 (2078 recovered)

Data note: It is not always possible to check and verify that the address data supplied for each new recorded case is correct, within the time frames required to provide regular and timely updates. This means that in some instances, cases could be allocated to the wrong sub-districts. We are working with the sub-districts to clean and verify the data and where errors are picked up locally, cases will be re-allocated to the correct areas. 

The Western Cape has recorded an additional 7 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 4277. We send our condolences to their families and friends at this time.

Old aged homes continue to show decline in active cases:

The Western Cape Department of Social Development has recorded a significant decrease in the number of active cases of Covid-19 in old aged facilities across the province. People over 55 and people with comorbidities are in the high-risk groups for becoming seriously ill, and so we are pleased to report that the number of infected people in old aged homes currently stands at seven. We have recorded over 1600 recoveries in old aged homes across the province.  

While this is encouraging, the Department of Social Development, under the leadership of Minister Sharna Fernandez continues to monitor cases and ensure that strict health and safety protocols remain in place.

We all need to take precautions to protect ourselves and those who fall into vulnerable groups, including those over 55, diabetics, as well as those with heart, lung and kidney disease, and hypertension. By continuing to protect these groups, we can help to save lives, and reduce the numbers of people requiring hospitalisation.

Municipalities offer support to local businesses: 

Covid-19 and the lockdown have had a significant impact on businesses across the province- particularly those in the tourism and hospitality sectors, which are significant employers in our rural areas. 

The Western Cape Government has been working closely with our local municipalities to ensure a coordinated response to Covid-19. I am very pleased to see that municipalities are now focusing their attention on supporting businesses in order to save jobs. 

Minister of Local Government and Environmental Affairs, Anton Bredell has detailed a series of initiatives municipalities have put in place. 

These include: 

-Saldanha Bay Municipality: Cell C in partnership with Facebook and the Saldanha Bay Municipality (SBM), have launched public access WIFI hotspots and Cell C Fiber hotspots using the Municipality’s Baobab fiber infrastructure. The programme will enable users to connect to the Internet via Facebook's Express Wi-Fi platform, providing free connectivity to those who need it the most. 

-Stellenbosch: stakeholders which include the municipality, Visit Stellenbosch, the University of Stellenbosch and Wesgro have been working together throughout lockdown to care for the community as well as jump-start economic activity in critical areas to  speed up recovery. Support Stellenbosch is the result of excellent cooperation and teamwork from various partners in town. Support Stellenbosch is the overarching umbrella for various initiatives to reboot and support businesses who were especially hard hit in COVID and Lockdown.  

-Mossel Bay Municipality has committed to ‘The Great Escape to Mossel Bay’ initiative, promoting support to local businesses and especially the tourism and hospitality industry. The municipality has also embarked on a ‘Buy Local, Support Local’ campaign. 

-The West Coast District Municipality has established the West Coast District Local Economic Cluster, to assist the region with economic recovery post Covid-19.  

These are just a handful of the initiatives undertaken by municiapalities to support recovery. These initiatives are in addition to the various initiatives in place in municipalities to protect residents and to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Businesses across the province need our support right now, and I encourage everyone, no matter where you live, to support a small or local business. I also encourage businesses to ensure that they are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of their staff and their customers, so that we can all move forward safely.