A message to healthcare workers

WESTERN CAPE NEWS - As we near the peak of our infection in the Western Cape, the role of healthcare workers and other important frontline staff becomes even more important.

This according to Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde's latest statement.

"I would like to send a message to all of our healthcare workers and frontline staff - our doctors and nurses, and all the people who contribute towards ensuring that our health care services are functioning each and every day - the technicians, lab assistants, porters, and the cleaning, catering and admin.

"Your commitment and dedication are helping to save lives and we thank you all for your service to the people of this province."

Winde added: "Since the start of the pandemic, we have had 2118 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in healthcare workers. Of these, 1235 have recovered, and 648 are currently active cases. We have unfortunately lost 11 healthcare workers to COVID-19 and we send our deepest condolences to their families and friends.

"Healthcare workers are on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19, and so we have put in place a number of measures to ensure that their risk of infection is minimised. These include developing of policies and guidelines for workplace safety, providing PPE in line with their risk profiles and we have also developed a risk tool for vulnerable staff which ensures that staff are graded according to their risk profile so that they can be assigned lower risk tasks. We have also ensured that healthcare workers have been prioritised for testing under the risk adjusted testing strategy, and for flu vaccines. Our Red Dot Taxi service has also been developed to safely transport healthcare workers who are traveling at night.

"I would also like to call on all of our residents to help our healthcare workers. The biggest contribution you can make is by playing your role in flattening the curve. Simple behaviour changes can have a huge impact on our healthcare systems and in turn, our healthcare workers.

"Stay at home wherever posssible and abide by the alert level three regulations. Hygiene measures such as hand washing and keeping your surroundings, whether at home or at work clean are also important. Always wear your mask when you leave home and keep a distance of 1.5 metres from other people.

"If every person does this, we will be able to slow the spread of COVID-19 and reduce the pressure on our healthcare systems and the men and women working in our health facilities. You can help us save lives."

Western Cape infection update

As of 13:00 on 12 June, the Western Cape has 11 599 active cases of COVID-19, with a total of 38 000 confirmed cases and 25 435 recoveries.

Total confirmed COVID-19 cases - 38 000
Total recoveries - 25435
Total deaths - 966
Total active cases (currently infected patients) - 11 599
Tests conducted - 225 593
Hospital admissions - 1238 of which 240 are in ICU or high care

The Western Cape has recorded an additional 39 deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 966.

More data is available here: https://coronavirus.westerncape.gov.za/covid-19-dashboard