Premier Alan Winde update on Coronavirus COVID-19 on 31 December

As of 1pm on 31 December, the Western Cape has 39 406 active Covid-19 infections with a total of 206 682 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 160 447 recoveries. 

The Western Cape has recorded 162 additional deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 6829.  We send our condolences to their loved ones at this time.

Additional data is available on the Western Cape Covid-19 data dashboard which also features active cases per sub-district, active cases per 100 000 and 7-day moving averages. Access the data dashboard here: https://coronavirus.westerncape.gov.za/covid-19-dashboard

New year’s message:

As we close out this very difficult year, I want to thank the people of the Western Cape. We have been faced with many trials and obstacles this year. Many people have suffered tremendous loss. Yet, throughout it, we have also seen the shining light of kindness and humanity. 

I first want to thank our healthcare workers. These courageous men and women have gone to work this year facing tremendous personal risk, but they continue to show up for the people of this province. I know you are stressed, tired and that you have given up time with your own families and loved ones to help save lives on the front lines.  

2020 was declared the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife and throughout this year, at home and across the globe, we have seen just how important our nurses are. To our nurses, doctors, community healthcare works, radiologists, physiotherapists, EMS staff, hospital porters, pharmacists, technicians, our hospital cleaning staff, caterers, security and administrative staff and every single person who goes to work in our healthcare system every day- the people of this province do not only owe you our gratitude, we owe you our lives. 

I also want to thank all of our other frontline workers and those key staff- our police and law enforcement, disaster management, our social workers, teachers, our agricultural workers supermarket and retail staff and government officials who have all played a tremendous role this year in the Western Cape. 

Throughout this year, we saw governments, organisations, businesses and individuals step up to help during this crisis. We received donations ranging from ventilators to PPE from governments around the world, organisations like Gift of the Givers and Medicins Sans Frontiers stepped up to help build and equip field hospitals, businesses who were themselves not able to trade got involved- whether it was the CTICC donating the use of their building, large supermarket chains, or small breweries who started making soup instead. Farmers donated truckloads of produce. Neighbours delivered care packages to those in isolation. Community groups made and donated mountains of cloth masks. Whether your donation was large, or whether you simply made sandwiches for someone who needed a meal- thank you. Because of you, someone else’s life was made better. 

Thank you also to those who cared enough to do everything possible to slow the spread and prevent further infections and protect the vulnerable. Wearing your mask and acting responsibly is the ultimate act of kindness.  

Sadly, we have also suffered tremendous loss this year. Close to 7000 people have died as a result of Covid-19 in our province. We also mourn the women and children who have been taken by gender-based violence, and the victims of crime and violence in our communities. Thousands have lost their jobs and livelihoods.  

This New Year’s Eve is indeed a somber occasion. When we welcome in the New Year, let us remember those we have lost, and let us embrace the spirit of kindness and sharing that we saw this year, in 2021. 

Please continue to take precautions to protect yourself and your loved ones. Please abide by the regulations in place which will help to reduce pressure on our healthcare workers and our hospitals and reduce the number of new infections.  

I wish everyone a safe and happy New Year. After the difficult year we have experienced, may 2021 be a more prosperous year for our residents.