Western Cape’s exit from Covid fourth wave ‘imminent’, says Premier Winde

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde on Thursday said the Western Cape was on track to exit the fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.

According to the premier, the province is coping well and starting to see a decoupling of cases, deaths and hospitalisations, similar to Gauteng province, which officially exited the fourth wave last week.

This means that while cases were higher during the fourth wave, deaths and hospital admissions in the Western Cape were significantly lower.

“We are seeing a decline in new Covid-19 cases, admission and test positivity – showing that we are on track to exit the fourth wave,” Winde said in a statement.

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According to the South African Covid-19 Modelling Consortium (SACMC), Gauteng was the first province to have exited the fourth wave, with the Western Cape starting to see a decrease in incident cases. 

Winde said the Western Cape would have officially exited the fourth wave once it reaches 600 daily new cases based on the seven-day moving average.

“We currently have an average of 1,100 cases, nearly half the average number of cases last week which was 2,013. The SACMC is predicting far fewer new cases in the coming week,” he said.

New cases, admissions and deaths

As of Thursday, the province recorded 982 new coronavirus cases. Hospital admissions stood at 174 new admissions daily, a decrease from 217 last week. 

The proportion of positive Covid-19 cases declined to 28%, down from 40% last week. The number of deaths, based on a seven-day moving average, was 31 – comparably lower than previous waves.

Winde said these figures showed that the Western Cape’s exit from the fourth wave was now imminent. 

“While our hospitals have coped throughout the pandemic, we are seeing reduced pressure on the healthcare platform.

“This is largely thanks to the provincial Department of Health’s approach of titrating their response throughout the fourth wave depending on the number of Covid-19 admissions.

“This has ensured an agile and responsive approach to the Covid-19 caseload throughout the fourth wave and pandemic,” he said.

Gradual increase in vaccinations

On the vaccine front, Winde said the province was taking a targeted approach to its vaccine rollout, focussing on the community level and areas with low vaccine uptake.

He said the provincial Department of Health was specifically targeting the unvaccinated and those who were eligible for booster doses, and they were able to administer up to 40,000 vaccinations a day.

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To date, a total of 4,621,089 vaccines had been administered in the Western Cape, and a total of 12,077 vaccines were administered in the last 24 hours. 

“By 2 January 2022, a total of 24,862 vaccines were administered. This increased to 42,101 by 9 January 2022 and further increased to 67,909 by 16 January 2022.

“This shows us that we are seeing a gradual increase in uptake following the festive season.”

Winde encouraged people who had not yet received their Covid jabs to get vaccinated, and for the broader public to continue adhering to non-pharmaceutical interventions such as washing hands regularly, physical distancing, mask-wearing to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Each of us has a role to play in ensuring that we keep safe and prevent the spread of Covid-19. Please play your part to ensure that we exit the fourth wave as quickly as possible,” he said.

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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