Covid update: More beds for growing numbers

WESTERN CAPE NEWS - The Western Cape Government has done everything it can to add capacity to the system so it can cope, but it is still under extreme pressure because of the rapidly growing number of cases caused by the new variant.

We have added the following additional beds to the system:

336 beds at the Hospital of Hope (Brackengate)
60 beds at the Freesia Ward in Mitchell’s Plan
30 beds at Ward 99 in Mitchell’s Plain
187 beds at the Aquarius Ward in Mitchell’s Plain
59 beds at the Sonstraal Hospital in Drakenstein
72 beds in Vredendal, Hermanus and George

In addition, we are also preparing to bring online an additional 136 beds in the metro, at existing facilities. This does depend on staffing capacity.

We have also erected tents at Khayelitsha and Wesfleur Hospitals where admissions and discharges will be managed.

Additional tents are being erected at the Hospital Hope (Brackengate), Mitchell’s Plan, Helderberg, Eerste River and Karl Bremmer.

To put it simply, the Western Cape will by the end of this week have added 744 additional beds into the system. We are also prepared to scale this up to 880 beds, which will be more than the CTICC field hospital capacity (and which was only half full during the first wave).

We have taken the decision this time around to put additional beds into or near to our existing hospitals. This allows us to make more efficient use of healthcare workers and other resources, but by will also help to build our healthcare system now, for use well after Covid-19.

The next two weeks are critical in our fight against Covid-19. I urge residents to abide by the new adjusted level 3 restrictions so that we can help to relieve the pressure on our healthcare system and on our hardworking healthcare workers.

Latest figures
As of 13:00 on 29 December, the Western Cape has 37 355 active Covid-19 infections with a total of 199 353 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 155 486 recoveries.

The Western Cape has recorded 180 additional deaths, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in the province to 6512. 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.

Garden Route District: